By Colombo Telegraph –

Two students have been arrested yesterday for exam fraud after persuading two Advance level students to sit their Ordinary Level exams for them by Mt.Lavinia police. The attempted fraud was discovered when exam invigilators noted that the two students in the exam hall little resemblance to the photograph on their Identity Cards.

Meanwhile Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa, eldest son of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament, and heir apparent, yesterday took oaths as an Attorney-at-Law before a three judge Supreme Court Bench, comprising Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice Nimal Gamini Amaratunga and Justice Suresh Chandra.

Namal’s parents President Mahinda Rajapaksa, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, his two brothers Yoshitha and Rohitha, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, Cabinet Ministers, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and well-wishers were present at the ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court. After the conclusion of the oaths ceremony, Namal went up to his parents, who were seated in the front row of the Ceremonial Court premises and worshipped them and received their blessings.

The scandal of Namal Rajapaksa, receiving favoured treatment by the authorities at the Sri Lanka Law College at his attorneys-at-law final examinations grabbed media attention earlier this year. Thushara Jayarathna, another candidate at the exam, alleged in complaints made to the police, Law College and even the then Chief Justice, that Namal Rajapaksa had been accommodated separately in an air-conditioned room with internet enabled computer facilities to sit for his examinations. In the present political climate of Sri Lanka, the courage of Jayarathna’s decision to go public does not need to be retold. He has not only faced physical harm and intimidation for his trouble, but also received no justice either from the Law College or from the Sri Lankan courts. The Supreme Court has thrown out his fundamental rights case on technical grounds, thereby exhausting all his local remedies. He is therefore intending to take his case to the Human Rights Committee in Geneva.

Two weeks ago ( December 1, 2011) Thushara Jayarathna was assaulted again by a group of men at a safe house.