The Supreme Court yesterday directed the Elections Commissioner to ensure that the identification documents allowed for voters during the last Presidential election should be adhered to at the forthcoming Parliamentary elections too for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justices Jagath Balapatabendi and Chandra Ekanayake also directed that if the temporary camp identity cards of the IDPs were used as valid identity for voting at the recently held Presidential elections, the same documents too should be included for the purpose of identity of the Internally displaced voters to exercise their franchise at the forthcoming Parliamentary elections.

Deputy Solicitor General Sanjay Rajaratnam appearing for the Attorney General informed Court that at the recently held Presidential elections, 51 buses were provided by the District Secretary of Vavuniya for the transport of IDPs to exercise their franchise.

The Court directed the same number of buses be utilized for the forthcoming Parliamentary elections for the transportation of the IDPs ensuring them to vote during the polling from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm.  The application was withdrawn.

President’s Counsel K. Kanag Iswaran with M.A.Sumanthiran, Bhavani Fonseka and Ermiza Tegal instructed by Mohan Balendara appeared for the petitioners.

The Rights violation petition was filed before the Supreme Court alleging the failure of the authorities to ensure that the Internally Displaced Persons living in the North and Eastern Provinces could participate as citizens of Sri Lanka in the fundamentally democratic process of exercising their votes.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives and its Executive Director Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu in the petition cited Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, District Secretaries of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Vavuniyia and Kilinochchi K.Ganesh, Emelda Sukumar, P.S.M.Charles and Rupavathi Ketheeswaran respectively as well as the Attorney General as Respondents.The petition was filed in the light of grave and adverse denial of the due enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms that all Sri Lankans regardless of ethnic, religious or geographical classification are entitled to, which are sought to be denied to a section of Sri Lankan society effectively on the basis of their ethnicity and place of origin.