Sri Lanka Cricket’s all-powerful secretary Nishantha Ranatunga was yesterday suspended from his functions on a court order issued by the Mount Lavinia District Court.
The court order prevents Ranatunga from all his duties at Sri Lanka Cricket including convening meetings and holding press conferences.
It will also not be possible for Ranatunga to seek re-election for the same post.
In issuing the order judge Priyantha Fernando had ordered Sri Lanka Cricket president Upali Dharmadasa and 21 executive committee members to appear in court on April 18.
The petition against Ranatunga was filed by the vice president of Chilaw Marians Nishantha de Silva.
The petitioner had stated that Ranatunga had remained in his post not through a democratic election process but as an appointee of the sports minister for the past four years.
The court was also told that cricket officials including Ranatunga and the executive committee ended their term on March 31 and had no right to continue in office.
Early this week former Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging sports minister Mahindananada Aluthgamage to show reason why he was rejected as candidate for the post of president at the upcoming election.
Prior to that, the Colombo District Cricket Association challenged in court the appointment of Jayantha Dharmadasa as Sri Lanka Cricket’s nominee for the post of president on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
Meanwhilw a forerunner to a possible election fracas is in the offing with pressure mounting on designated voters from at least 25 clubs or associations to be changed, Ceylon Today learns.
The pressure is being brought on to change the voters, in reality club or association representatives, who will be allowed inside the election chamber to vote.
The pressurized clubs and associations are said to be supporters of Thilanga Sumathipala who was excluded from the race.
Ceylon Today learns that an influential official at Sri Lanka Cricket opposed to Sumathipala has been behind the move to pressurize the clubs into changing their voting reps.
In the past, a representative from a club or association is allowed to enter the chamber to vote for a candidate in accordance with their choice.
But there have been known cases of club representatives going against the wishes of their clubs or associations and voting for some other candidate.
