The outgoing Sri Lankan Chief Justice has warned that the 13th amendment to provide devolution of power to the Tamils in the North was not practical as it was a "hurriedly pieced together" document 'picked' from the Indian constitution.
"It is impossible to devolve police and land powers fully in a small island nation like Sri Lanka," Sarath Nanda Silva told reporters, yesterday.
"For instance, the Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh in India is ten to twelve times bigger than Sri Lanka. The devolution of police and land powers is prudent and successful in those states, but won't be so in Sri Lanka," he said.
The District Development Council system that existed during the J R Jayewardene regime was probably the most suitable system to devolve power to the periphery in a country like Sri Lanka," the Chief Justice of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court said. On the The 13th Amendment to the Constitution he said it was not practicable.
At his last official press briefing, he described that Amendment "as ill-conceived and hurriedly pieced together by picking bits and pieces of the Indian Constitution" in keeping with the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987.
Speaking on the occasion, former Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah asked the electronic media in particular to be more responsible in presenting sensitive matters and suggested framing of guidelines for airing content.
His views were also echoed by some participants at the seminar.
