Jathika Hela Urumaya hit out at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his comments that he was seeking international legal opinion on the Fundamental Rights petition filed by former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Releasing a media statement, its spokesperson Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said that the Prime Minister has undermined the local judicial system by his comments.

The Prime Minister recently said that he has been put into a difficulty by the decision of the Supreme Court to adjourn the proceedings until October 6, and was considering the referral of the issue to the Commonwealth Secretariat Legal Division.

He added that even though the Cabinet of Ministers was a respondent in the case, no one in the Cabinet was issued notice to be present at the Supreme Court on May 13, when the petition was taken up.

However, JHU media release responded by pointing out that the PM could have filed a motion to the Supreme Court and ask for a date to appear at the courts. It is just a case of negligence by Wickremesinghe, the release added.

The release also pointed out that the absence of at least three judges at the bench should be sorted out within the Supreme Court. Taking this point to the international level is undermining the judiciary and questioning its independence, JHU further said.

It also pointed out that the State Counsel had told the Supreme Court that the police was not seeking the arrest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the time being.