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Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has shut the door on a former senior police officer’s final legal challenge, firmly upholding a three-year prison sentence over corruption involving the misuse of Civil Security officers.
The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Colombo High Court dismissing the revision petition filed by former Deputy Inspector General Hector Dharmasiri, thereby confirming the three-year imprisonment sentence imposed by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The order was delivered on the 12th by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Sampath Wijeratne, who declined to grant permission to hear the appeal petition submitted by the former DIG. Through this petition, he sought to quash earlier court rulings and obtain an order acquitting him of all charges.
The case dates back to 2007, when Hector Dharmasiri was serving as the Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of the Matale Division. During that period, it was alleged that he had unlawfully deployed Civil Security officers who were working under his authority to carry out construction work at his private residence in the Minuwangoda area. Following investigations into these allegations, the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption instituted legal proceedings before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, filing a total of 15 charges against him.
The case was heard by the then Chief Magistrate of Colombo, Lanka Jayaratne, who is now a serving High Court Judge. After a detailed evaluation of the evidence, the court convicted the accused on six of the charges. He was sentenced to six years of imprisonment, structured to be served over a period of three years. In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a fine of three hundred thousand rupees in a judgment delivered on 2019.07.02.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Hector Dharmasiri filed a revision application challenging the decision of the Chief Magistrate’s Court. However, the Colombo High Court rejected this application after reviewing the facts and the legal reasoning of the lower court. Following that rejection, the former DIG pursued a further appeal before the Supreme Court through his legal representatives.
When the matter was taken up before the Supreme Court, Assistant Director Legal Anusha Sammandapperuma appeared on behalf of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption. She submitted that the learned Chief Magistrate had imposed the sentence only after carefully considering all the evidence presented during the trial. She highlighted that although 15 charges had been filed, the accused was convicted on only six charges and acquitted on the remaining nine, demonstrating that the Magistrate’s decision was measured and fair.
Anusha Sammandapperuma further requested that the Supreme Court dismiss the petition without granting leave to proceed, noting that the High Court had already examined the revision application in detail and rejected it after due consideration. Accepting these submissions, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition, bringing the prolonged legal process to a close and conclusively upholding the sentence imposed on the former DIG.
