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The District Court Colombo yesterday issued an interim injunction preventing Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala and the Ex-Co members of the BCCSL from holding office until the finalisation of the case before it, filed by Clifford Ratwatte.

Mr. Ratwatte the unsuccessful candidate in the BCCSL elections held on 28th March 1999 challenged the election of Mr. Sumathipala as Cricket Board President on grounds of threats and intimidation which mitigated against a free and fair poll affecting his election as president.

Delivering his order District Judge A. W. A. Salaam re-iterated his position taken at the issuing of the enjoining order in April that the plaintiff had a prima-facie case.

He was issuing the interim injunction because on the balance of convenience it is the plaintiff who would suffer most if such an order was not issued, the judge stated.

The judge also stated that the Sports Minister has the power under the law to run sports bodies.

``Therefore even if there is no one to run the BCCSL the Minister is vested with the powers under the law to appoint a person to run this body.''

District Judge Salaam also passed strictures on the defendant for misrepresenting facts when he (defendant) stated that the BCCSL contract with cricket's governing body could not be signed because of the enjoining order issued by court. This was one of the considerations that he had taken into account when he vacated the enjoining order. But that is no more, the judge stated.

He said he expected both parties to come before court with clean hands but on this occasion the defendant had been dishonest.

Meanwhile the court granted a request by Mr. Romesh de Silva PC, senior counsel for Mr. Clifford Ratwatte one month's time to decide in which court he would be filing papers for contempt charges against Samurdhi, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake over the contents of a letter sent by the Minister to the Executive Officer of the BCCSL.