Supreme Court Orders Contempt Charges Against Former NIE Director

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Supreme Court today ordered the Attorney General to file a charge sheet against the former Director of the National Institute of Education (NIE), I. G. S. Premathilaka, on charges of contempt of court.

The order was issued over the failure to comply with a directive connected to several fundamental rights petitions filed in relation to the premature release of three questions from the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination paper.

Premathilaka had been named as a respondent in those petitions.

The Court further directed that notice be issued requiring the respondent to appear before the Court on March 26.

The order was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Justice Achala Wengappuli, and Justice Priyantha Fernando, after considering the submissions made in court.

The fundamental rights petitions had been filed by parents of students who sat for the examination, and the three-judge bench delivered its ruling on December 31, 2024.

According to that judgment, Premathilaka was ordered to pay Rs. 3 million as compensation to the State, personally, for violating fundamental rights. The amount was to be paid within four weeks of the order.

However, Premathilaka had not complied with the directive, and a request was submitted to the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against him.

Taking this into consideration, the three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice ordered the Attorney General to file a charge sheet for contempt of court.

The Court further instructed that notice be issued requiring the respondent to appear before the Court on March 26.