In a significant judgment, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Tuesday scrapped a key element of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord by which the country's northern and eastern provinces were clubbed to become one administrative unit.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath N Silva declared as "illegal" uniting of the two provinces under the pact and said the president had no power to carry out such a decision.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna.
The two provinces were merged temporarily following the signing of the peace accord between then Sri Lankan president J R Jayawardane and Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and these remained merged as a single administrative unit till now.
The apex court's order to de-merge the two provinces has come at a time when President Mahinda Rajapakse's ruling coalition and the Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to resume direct talks in Switzerland on October 28 and 29.
The peace accord, aimed at ending bloodshed in the conflict-ridden island nation, merged northern and eastern provinces contending that these "have been areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking people who have at all times hitherto lived together in this territory with other ethnic groups."
This merger was subject to a subsequent referendum. Critics saw this as a move wherein the Sri Lankan government had made concessions to Tamil demands.
