Harsha Illukpitiya, the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, was remanded by the Supreme Court today due to contempt of court for failing to implement a court order. The case will be reviewed on January 22, 2025. The three-judge bench, consisting of Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Kumuduni Wickramasinghe, and Achala Wengappuli, decided to keep him in custody until the hearings were complete.
This decision comes after various parties, including former MPs M.A. Sumanthiran, Champika Ranawaka, and Rauff Hakeem filed eight petitions. They requested the Supreme Court to issue an interim order to suspend a contract awarded to the private consortium IVS-GBS and VFS Global for visa processing. They argued that this contract was given without a competitive tender and raised concerns about irregularities in the new visa system introduced by VFS.
In response to these concerns, the Supreme Court issued an interim order on August 13, directing the suspension of the current visa processing system and ordering Illukpitiya to revert to the old system. However, due to his failure to comply, the petitioners filed contempt of court charges against him.
Today, Illukpitiya appeared in court with his lawyers, but the court found his explanations unconvincing. As a result, the Supreme Court ordered that he be remanded until the case hearings conclude.
