The Court of Appeal today (12) ordered that the order on the request made by Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon will be announced on the 17th.
The petition was filed seeking an interim injunction to suspend the order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court to arrest him in connection with the shooting incident at the “W15” hotel in Weligama, Matara.
The order was issued by the Court of Appeal bench of Acting President of the Court of Appeal Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir and Sarath Dissanayake after considering the petition filed by Deshabandu Tennakoon at length.
When the consideration of the petition began, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, appearing for the petitioner Deshabandu Tennakoon, submitted before the court that his client was already acting as the IGP and that the order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court to arrest and produce him was completely against the law.
“The Magistrate has issued this order based on a report of facts submitted by the Weligama Police in terms of Section 136 (1) B of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is completely wrong. Such an order cannot be issued based on a report of facts submitted by the police under this section. Also, no statement was recorded from the petitioner before issuing this order. A summons should be issued to the petitioner to issue such an order. It is wrong to directly order his arrest without issuing a summons to appear before the court.” He also stated.
At this point, the Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mohamed Lafar, asked the President’s Counsel, “Can’t the petitioner go directly to court and make a statement?“
Responding to this, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva said,
“Your Honor… my client would like to appear. But there is a risk of arrest. There is also a risk of being remanded. If my client gives an undertaking that he will not be arrested, he would like to assist in the investigations.”
At that point, the President of the Court of Appeal, who raised another question,
“If the petitioner appears in court, the Magistrate will issue an appropriate order in that regard. So, he is able to appear in court, right?”
Responding to this, the President’s Counsel said,
“Your Honor… he is ready to appear if he gives an undertaking that he will not be arrested.” He reiterated.
Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, who appeared for the Attorney General at that time, stated that such an undertaking could not be given.
President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, who further stated,
“My client is still serving as the IGP. Everyone knows his address and telephone number. Despite that, a summons should have been issued to summon him to court. That is the legal position. It is not in accordance with the law to issue orders to arrest him without doing so. Also, the Magistrate cannot issue such an order based on a report submitted by the police. In issuing this order, the Magistrate has acted with legal bias. Also, it was learned from the media yesterday that open warrants have been issued to arrest the petitioner. How can such an order be issued? This is an abuse of judicial power. Such actions should be stopped.”
President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva further submitted his arguments and requested the court to issue notices to the respondents to take up the petition and to issue an interim injunction preventing the implementation of the interim order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court to arrest his client.
Thereafter, Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, appearing for the respondents, presented the facts before the court,
“The petitioner’s lawyer stated that he is still acting as the IGP. I am ashamed to say this, Your Honor. This person has been hiding from the court since the 27th. The police have also sought public assistance to find him. He is currently hiding from the court. He is not even fit to hold the position of IGP. In the affidavit submitted by the petitioner to the court, his name is mentioned as Deshabandu Tennakoon. However, in another document in the case file submitted by him, his name is mentioned as P.M.W.D. Tennakoon. In fact, this is a cover-up. Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department went to the place on the 27th to inspect the house located at Gangani Mawatha, Hokandara where he resides. It was revealed that he and his family members were not in the house. However, the house was searched by the Police Special Task Force and the security of VIP security personnel has been provided. Your Honor…. This petitioner is being prepared to be arrested pursuant to a court order. This is not a decision taken by the police.”
The Additional Solicitor General further stated,
“On December 31, 2023, at around 8.30 pm, on the orders of the petitioner in this case, Deshabandu Tennakoon, a group of officers from the Colombo Crimes Division set off for Matara in a KDH van. This group included three OICs of the Colombo Crimes Division. They had stated that they were going to conduct a raid on suspects involved in a drug incident. Evidence has revealed that the group of officers from the Colombo Crimes Division who went thus opened fire on the W15 Hotel located in the Weligama area of Matara. At that time, a group of officers from the Army and the Police engaged in Operation “Justice” pursued the van and opened fire. As a result, two officers from the Crimes Division who were in the vehicle were injured. Later, a police sergeant who was in the vehicle died. There were two injured people in the vehicle. The vehicle that fled in this way the police stopped at the entrance. At that time, it was observed that there were two injured police officers in the vehicle. The middle seat of the van had been removed and the injured were lying on the ground. The mobile phones of all those in the van had been switched off. Later, the police officers intervened and took the injured to the hospital. This is a very suspicious situation. They had traveled thirteen kilometers from the scene of the shooting to the Imaduwa Expressway entrance. On their way, they passed three police stations and three hospitals. It is doubtful why the injured were not admitted to those hospitals. If this was a legal raid, the officers of the Colombo Crimes Division should have informed the OIC and the SSP of the area. But they did not do so. That is why this unfortunate situation arose.”
The Additional Solicitor General, who further explained,
“Your Honor.. Even though they stated that the Colombo Crimes Division team went to arrest drug suspects, it cannot be accepted. It has been found that this incident occurred over a personal dispute between Mohamed Nizam Jamaldin, the owner of the W15 Hotel that was shot at, and Deshabandu Tennakoon. The evidence has shown that this shooting took place under the direction of Deshabandu Tennakoon over a dispute over a land dispute and a dispute over the payment of one and a half lakh rupees per month to Deshabandu Tennakoon by the Sri Lanka Cricket. It has also been clear that he had deployed officers from the Colombo Crimes Division who worked under him for this purpose. If the petitioner is the Inspector General of Police of this country, can such a paramilitary group operate under him? Deshabandu Tennakoon is the main conspirator of this incident. The officers of the Crime Branch have acted in a completely illegal manner. The family of Police Sergeant Upul Kumara, who died in this incident, had been given Rs. 1.5 million from the police fund through the intervention of the IGP. It has also been revealed that the President was informed through the intervention of the then Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and another Rs. 2.5 million was given. The Magistrate has also indicated that investigations should be conducted into the actions of the then Minister of Public Security.”
Accordingly, since Deshabandu Tennakoon has presented this petition in a manner that is not in accordance with the rules of the Court of Appeal, he further requested the court to dismiss it at the first instance. The Court of Appeal bench, which considered the facts presented, announced that it would announce its decision on this petition on the 17th.
