Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has issued an interim injunction restraining Sundaralingam Kandipan from functioning as Mayor of the Vavuniya Urban Council and Parameswaran Karthipan from acting as Deputy Mayor, following allegations that both men were unlawfully appointed.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by Justices Rohantha Abeysuriya and Priyantha Fernando, will remain in effect until the conclusion of the hearing. The Court has scheduled the case to be recalled on 19 November 2025.
The petition, filed by National People’s Power (NPP) member K. Vijayakumar and independent councillor Premadas Sivashubramaniam through attorney Manjula Balasuriya, challenged the legality of the two appointments. President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
According to court submissions, Karthipan, who was appointed to the Vavuniya Urban Council under a bonus seat allocation, had pledged his support to the Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) in exchange for the deputy mayoral position. However, it later emerged that Karthipan was a resident of the Vavuniya South Tamil Pradeshiya Sabha area, making him ineligible to contest or hold office within the Vavuniya Municipal Council under existing local government laws.
The petition further noted that Kandipan was elected mayor by a narrow margin of 11 votes to 10, while Karthipan secured the deputy position by the same margin. Petitioners argued that neither individual held a valid mandate to occupy their respective offices and requested that the court declare their appointments null and void.
The Court of Appeal agreed that the matter raised serious legal questions, warranting the temporary suspension of both officeholders pending further deliberation.
