INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
enjoining order issued preventing its Moscow-bound flight from leaving Sri Lanka.Colombo Commercial High Court yesterday issued an enjoining
order preventing the Moscow-bound flight in question from leaving Sri Lanka
According to the order, the Airbus A330, which was scheduled to fly to Moscow with 191 Russian tourists, has been detained at the
Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.The enjoining order was issued by Colombo Commercial High Court Judge Harsha Sethunga
after hearing a complaint filed by Celestial Aviation Trading Limited, an Irish company
The enjoining order will remain in effect until the 16th of this month.The flight was detained despite the Civil Aviation Authority having
reassured the Federal Transport Agency of the Russian Federation in writing on the 7th of March this year that Russian aircraft will not be
detained or arrested at airports in Sri Lanka.When the case was taken up today, the Additional Solicitor General Sumith Dharmawardena
appeared on behalf of the second respondent in the case Katunayake Airport and the Air Traffic Controller.According to international and
bilateral agreements, the Sri Lankan government is bound to allow aircrafts to land and take off in Sri Lanka
He added that the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority has the legal power to ensure the necessary facilities are provided for
aircrafts to take off.In this backdrop, the Additional Solicitor General stated that the court has no authority to issue such enjoining
order on the grounds that the enjoining order had been obtained by presenting unfounded allegations by the complainant.As such, the court
decided to fix the request for consideration on the 08th of June.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
