High Court Judge Justice Lyone Seneviratne has struck out Ratu Isoa Tikoca’s application for leave to apply for a judicial review challenging the decision of parliament to suspend him for the rest of the term of parliament until 2018.
In his ruling, Justice Seneviratne stated that the power to suspend a member on a procedure that should be followed are found in the parliamentary standing orders.
He says there are no such provisions in the constitution.
The judge said making and implementing standing orders of the parliament are internal matters of the parliament with which the court has no power to intervene.
Justice Seneviratne further stated that even if the decision of the parliament made under the standing orders to suspend Tikoca is wrong, it cannot be challenged in a court of law.
Justice Seneviratne says Tikoca is seeking not only to have the decision of the Speaker to suspend him set aside but also to have the resolution to pass by the majority of the parliament on the 29th September, 2016, set aside.
He says if the court starts interfering with the internal affairs of the parliament, it will open the floodgate for the members to challenge any resolution passed by the parliament in court which will lead to a situation where the judiciary will, virtually, be controlling the internal affairs of the parliament and entire system of administration of the country can collapse in no time.
Justice Seneviratne says for these reasons he is of the view that the decision of the parliament which Tikoca is seeking to challenge by way of judicial review must necessarily fail for the reason that the court has no jurisdiction to inquire into the decision of the parliament to suspend Tikoca.
He says the parties will bear their own costs of this application.
