Wijesekera and Others vs Attorney General – sllr 2007 volume 1 page 038

In the case between Wijesekera and Others (residents of Trincomalee and the Digamadulla Districts within the Eastern Province) and the Attorney General, the court addressed the legality of the Presidential Proclamation merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces pursuant to section 37(1)(b), and the use of an Emergency Regulation (P1) to supplement or circumvent required statutory conditions. It was held that the mandatory preconditions set by law for such a merger—specifically, the surrender of arms and cessation of hostilities—were not satisfied, and that an attempt by the President to amend these conditions through delegated legislative power was ultra vires and unconstitutional. The court reaffirmed that only Parliament may make such amendments and that the continued denial of an electe