A landmark Supreme Court ruling exposes police misconduct, holding a senior officer personally accountable for violating a lawyer’s fundamental rights in a case that raises serious questions about professional freedom and abuse of authority.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the fundamental rights of a lawyer were violated after his professional duties were obstructed at the Negombo Police Station in 2017, ordering current Police Spokesperson Senior Superintendent of Police Wootler Udayakumara to personally pay Rs. 60,000 in compensation.
The order was delivered when a fundamental rights petition filed by Attorney-at-Law Priyalal Sirisena was taken up before court and decided with the agreement of the majority of judges.
The judgment found that Wootler Udayakumara, who was serving as Inspector of Police at the Negombo Headquarters during the incident, along with Madushanka Dias, who was then Officer-in-Charge of the complaints division, had unlawfully obstructed the professional rights and legal representation duties of the petitioner.
Accordingly, Senior Superintendent of Police Wootler Udayakumara was directed to pay Rs. 60,000 as compensation for violating constitutional rights.
Police Inspector Madushanka Dias was also ordered to pay Rs. 30,000 as compensation for infringing the petitioner’s right to engage in a lawful profession under Article 14(1)(g) of the Constitution.
In addition to these compensation payments, the Supreme Court further ordered both officers to pay Rs. 10,000 each as legal costs to the petitioner.
Attorney-at-Law Priyalal Sirisena stated in his petition that the two police officers had obstructed him from representing his client during an official investigation conducted at the Negombo Police Station.
The ruling was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Janaka de Silva and Kumuduni Wickramasinghe, who formed the majority opinion in the case.
However, Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena dissented, stating that under the circumstances presented, it could not be conclusively established that the petitioner’s professional rights had been violated, and therefore the petition should have been dismissed.
Senior Counsel Lakshan Dias appeared on behalf of the petitioner, while Senior Deputy Solicitor General Rajeev Gunathilaka represented the Attorney General during the proceedings.
