Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has been advised by Attorney-General (AG) K. C. Kamalasabayson to retain private counsel to present his case before court in actions pending relating to the date of the forthcoming presidential election.

Elections Department sources said that the Commissioner had received this advice following a meeting with the AG on Friday.

The Commissioner has been advised to file his objections to the JHU petition by August 15 as the case has been listed for hearing on August 22.

The JHU has sought a determination from the Supreme Court that a presidential election is due this year while SLFP Secretary Maitripala Sirisena, intervening, has submitted that the election is due only next year.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court is due to hear these petitions with the Centre for Policy Alternatives too saying that they would intervene and argue that the Chief Justice should not sit on this bench as he had administered the oath taking of the president.

The Attorney-General did not object to leave being granted by the Supreme Court to hear the JHU petition as he was of the view that a substantial question of law and a matter of public importance needed to be resolved by the Supreme Court.

The president too has made a reference to the Supreme Court asking an opinion on the date of the presidential election as she is entitled to do under Article 129.

Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu said that they were filing objections as the CJ is the key actor of a series of events in connection with the case, which was subject of contention and controversy and, therefore, he should not sit in judgement.

"Primarily he should not provide any opinion or be involved in hearing such fundamental rights petition, he said.

Dr. Rohan Edirisinha said that basically the Chief Justice had made the mistake of swearing in President Chandrika Kumaratunga in December, 1999 when the constitutional position is quite clear that a second term begins in November 2000.