Mr. Speaker - The Hon. (Dr.) Jagath Wickramaratne

¶ 01 Announcements

¶ 02 Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill: Petition to the Supreme Court

¶ 03 In addition to the three petitions that I announced on 03rd and 04th June 2025, I wish to inform Parliament that I have received a copy of a petition submitted to the Supreme Court under Article 121(1) of the Constitution in respect of the “Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment)” Bill.

¶ 04 Comment Made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake on 04.06.2025 Regarding Unavailability of Tabled Documents

¶ 05 I wish to clarify the matter raised yesterday, 04th June 2025, by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, MP, alleging that he could not obtain the annexures tabled in answer to a question posed the previous day to the Hon. Prime Minister.

¶ 06 The usual practice is that once the relevant Minister provides the tabled documents, the Hansard Department sends them to the Library of Parliament, from where any Hon. Member may obtain copies. Accordingly, even before the Hansard is printed and released, copies of tabled documents are available through the Library. In this instance, upon receipt, the Hansard Department had taken steps to dispatch the said annexures to the Library. However, on further inquiry, there is no record that Hon. Ravi Karunanayake requested copies from either the Hansard Department or the Library.

¶ 07 Further, the statement made that Hansard reports are released with a delay of three months is incorrect. As of 20th May 2025, the Hansard reports for each sitting day have been uploaded to the Parliament website.

¶ 08 Therefore, I draw the attention of this Hon. House to the need to base such submissions on accurate and verified information.

¶ 09 Meeting of Committee on Parliamentary Business

¶ 10 I wish to inform all Hon. Members that a meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business is scheduled to be held today, Thursday, 05th June 2025, at 3.00 p.m., in Committee Room No. 28.