Notice has been issued on the respondents of a fundamental rights petition filed by the UNP against the state’s planned acquisition of a land at Inginiyagala in Ampara, to appear before the court of appeal on May 02.

The court set aside an argument by the attorney general’s department, which claimed that the decision to acquire the land was made by the president, and cannot be challenged.

President’s counsel Manohara de Silva, who is appearing on behalf of the petitioners, told the court at a hearing today that the party had obtained the land in question legally in 2003 to build an office.

The petitioners, UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake and national organizer Daya Gamage, are seeking an injunction that prevents the takeover.

The respondents cited are the commissioner general of lands and seven others.

The UNP has filed an amended petition, after the CA judge previously noted that the takeover has been ordered by the president.

At today’s hearing, the attorney general’s department argued that the presidential decision to take over the land cannot be challenged.

However, Manohara de Silva, PC, rebutted, citing a previous court case in 1999, and said that the president had been wrongly advised by the Ampara district secretary and the land commissioner general into deciding the takeover.

Accepting the argument, the court ordered the respondents to appear before the court at the next hearing, on May 02.