The Court of Appeal has ordered the relevant Returning Officers to re-accept nearly 37 nomination papers that were previously rejected for several Local Government (LG) institutions across the island.

This directive was issued by the two-member Appeals Court bench comprising Acting President of the Court of Appeal Justice Mohammed Thahir Laffar and Justice K.P. Fernando, following the consideration of writ petitions filed by various political parties and independent groups. The petitions challenged the rejection of their nominations for the upcoming LG elections.

Petitions were filed by parties including the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ alliance, and multiple independent groups. These rejections affected nominations for several local government bodies, including the Colombo Municipal Council.

In response, the court ordered the Returning Officers to temporarily halt election-related activities for the Colombo Municipal Council and other affected LG bodies until a final decision on the petitions is made.

Earlier in the proceedings, the Court of Appeal instructed the Election Commission to accept nominations for the 2025 Local Government Election from candidates who submitted original birth certificates. This followed a court-mediated agreement to consider nominations previously rejected for missing such documents.