John Anthony Emmanuel Amaratunga ( Sinhala: ජෝන් ඇන්තනී එමානුවෙල් අමරතුංග) (born 21 May 1940) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician and lawyer. He is a representative of

Gampaha District Gampaha District ( si, ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''gampaha distrikkaya'', ta, கம்பஹா மாவட்டம் ''Kampahā Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administ ...

for the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

in the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. He resides in

Kandana Kandana ( si, කඳාන, ta, கந்தானை) is a suburb of Colombo in Western Province, Sri Lanka, north of the Colombo city centre. Due to the proximity to Colombo, Negombo as well as the Bandaranaike International Airport, the subur ...

.He was the minister Tourism Development, Christian Religious Affairs and Land in the United National Party led government. He also held the powerful ministry of Interior in the 2001-2004 United National Party government.

Early life

Educated at De Mazenod College, Kandana and at

Saint Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

. He studied law at the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and became a

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

in July 1966. He setup his legal practice in

Negombo Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in Western Province, from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway. Negombo is one of the major commercial hubs in the country and ...

, becoming a Notary Public and a

Justice of the Peace and Unofficial magistrate In Sri Lanka, a Justice of the Peace and Unofficial magistrate (also known as Acting magistrate) is a judicial appointment made by the Minister of Justice to a particular jurisdiction under the ''Judicature Act No 02 of 1978''. An Unofficial magistr ...

Political career

Amaratunga joined the

and became active in local politics. In 1978, while serving as chairman, Sri Lanka Leather Corporation; he succeeded Shelton Jayasinghe, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Wattala electorate following the sudden death of the later. He successfully held his seat in parliament in the successive elections from the

. During his political career he held several appointments that included; *Organizer of the United National Party for Wattala Electorate *Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (1984-1993) *Acting Minister of Finance (1988-1989) *State Minister of Foreign Affairs (1989-1994) *Subject Minister for Provincial Councils (1990) *Acting State Minister for Information (1990) *Acting State Minister for Defense (1992) *Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Provincial Councils (1993-1994) *Cabinet Minister of Interior and Christian Affairs (2001-2004) *Chief Opposition Whip (2010-2015) *Cabinet Minister of Public Order, Disaster Management & Christian Affairs (Jan – Mar 2015) *Cabinet Minister of Public Order and Christian Religious Affairs (Mar 2015 – Aug 2015) *Cabinet Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs (Since Sep 2015) *Additional Ministerial Portfolio of Land (May 2016- Aug2017) *Member of the Working Committee of the United National Party *Chairman, United National Party Professional Group and Overseas Membership Development. *President - Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya Trade Union *Vice President World Tourism Organization - South Asia

Controversy

Fraudulent acquisition of property

In 2018 John Amaratunga was accused of aiding the fraudulent acquisition of a property worth Rs. 7 Billion from an elderly couple, as well as holding them hostage. Eighty-six year-old Wimalsen Fernando and his wife Shiranie Fernando learnt that their property in Gregory's Road, Colombo was fraudulently acquired by a person named Prasad Deshapriya Vitharana of Kalubowila. When the property was visited by the couple they were held hostage by Amaratunga's guards. When the couple's lawyers attempted to enter the property they met Amaratunga in the property who used abusive language to threaten them and attempted to evict them; but the lawyers forced their way to the couple. The couple was threatened and Vitharana had extorted money from them with death threats. The couple complained to the Cinnamon Gardens police, but they did not see an inquiry for more than five months and no statement was taken from Amaratunga. When the media questioned the police they claimed to be "unaware" of the incident. John Amaratunga accepted that the accused was a friend but denied the allegations that he abused his powers to stop the investigations or that to threatening the lawyers. Instead he claimed he only asked them to leave calling them trespassers.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaratunga, John Sinhalese lawyers 1940 births Living people Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Ministers of state of Sri Lanka Non-cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka Ceylonese proctors Sri Lankan notaries