A Supreme Court judge on Monday withdrew from proceedings on the appeal filed by former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen against a verdict in the Wilpattu forest-clearing case, with the matter rescheduled before a differently constituted bench on September 9.
The appeal had been listed before a three-judge bench comprising Justices A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Sampath Abeykoon, and Gihan Kulatunga. Justice Nawaz announced at the outset that he was stepping down due to personal reasons, leaving the panel unable to proceed. Several other Supreme Court judges — Justices Mahinda Samayawardhena, Yasanta Kodagoda, Janak de Silva and Arjuna Obeyesekere — had previously withdrawn from hearing the petition.
The case stems from a 2015 writ petition filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice before the Court of Appeal, challenging the clearing of forest land near the Wilpattu Wildlife Sanctuary and resettlement activities allegedly carried out under Bathiudeen’s direction.
The Court of Appeal subsequently held the former minister responsible and ordered him to bear the costs of reforestation, estimated by the Department of Wildlife Conservation at around Rs. 1.6 billion. Bathiudeen has appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Court of Appeal’s ruling was unlawful and seeking its annulment.
The September 9 listing now extends a case that has already been before the courts for more than a decade, with the underlying environmental damage at one of Sri Lanka’s most ecologically significant national parks unresolved. The serial recusal pattern by senior Supreme Court judges is unusual and underscores the case’s political sensitivity for the court.
