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Weerawansa ordered to pay Rs. 10 m to JVP Gen. Sec.
View(s):National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa was ordered by the Commercial High Court to pay Rs. 10 million as compensation to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna General Secretary for using without permission JVP material in his book.
Commercial HC judge Ruwan Fernando ruled that Mr. Weerawansa had violated the provisions of the Intellectual Property Act. In his petition to the court, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said Mr. Weerawansa, a frontline United People’s Freedom Alliance Parliamentarian, had used in his book ‘Nettha Wenuwata Attha’ the contents of documents belonging to the JVP’s politburo without obtaining the party’s permission.
Rejecting the charge, Mr. Weerawansa argued that he had used the documents in the public interest and, therefore, he had not violated the Intellectual Property Act. He urged the court to dismiss the case. Mr. Weerwansa’s counsel said an appeal against the ruling would be filed in the Supreme Court.