Former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay has moved to the Court of Appeal in a dramatic legal bid to block his arrest and detention, arguing that the case tied to Easter Sunday investigations is unlawful, factually flawed, and built on allegations he says do not stand up to scrutiny.
Former State Intelligence Service Director Major General Suresh Sallay has filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal challenging the legality of his arrest and continued detention in relation to the Easter Sunday attacks investigation. The move marks a major legal escalation in one of Sri Lanka’s most politically sensitive national security cases, with Sallay directly contesting both the basis of the investigation and the use of detention powers against him.
Through his legal team, Sallay is seeking an interim order to suspend the operation of the detention order issued against him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He has also asked the Court of Appeal to issue an interim order staying all further proceedings against him before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court while the legality of the arrest, detention, and related investigative action is examined.
The respondents named in the writ petition include Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya, Criminal Investigation Department Director Shani Abeysekera, the Colombo Fort Magistrate, the Attorney General, and several other officials connected to the case.
According to the petition, the investigation stems from a complaint lodged with the CID on October 4, 2024, by Rev. Fr. Rohan de Silva over allegations made in a documentary broadcast by the UK-based Channel 4 television network. That documentary carried claims by an individual identified as Mohommed Mihilal Mohommed Hanzir, also known as Azath Maulana, who alleged a connection between Suresh Sallay and the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Sallay has firmly denied all such allegations, insisting that he was not in Sri Lanka during the periods in which he is alleged to have been in contact with extremist preacher Zahran Hashim or any of his associates. His petition argues that the claims being used against him are fundamentally inconsistent with his official postings and travel history.
The petitioner states that he served as Minister Counsellor at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Malaysia from December 2016 until December 2018 and was living in Malaysia throughout that time. He further states that from January 7, 2019, to November 29, 2019, he was in India following the 59th National Security and Strategic Studies Course at the National Defence College in New Delhi.
He also states that the Easter Sunday bomb attacks took place on April 21, 2019, at a time when he was in India and not in Sri Lanka, a point his petition presents as central to his legal challenge and factual defence.
Sallay has additionally disputed the credibility of specific allegations aired in the Channel 4 documentary, including a claimed meeting in February 2018 in Karadiyapuval, Puttalam. He says such a meeting would have been impossible because he had left Sri Lanka on December 1, 2016, for his diplomatic posting in Malaysia and remained overseas until December 10, 2018.
The petition also points out that Sallay’s name does not appear in the report compiled by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Vijith Malalgoda, which examined responsibility relating to the Easter Sunday attacks and the surrounding failures.
In addition, Sallay states that an Imam Committee appointed to look into the Channel 4 allegations found no evidence linking him to Zahran Hashim or members of the National Thowheed Jamaath, a finding his petition appears to rely on heavily in challenging the justification for his arrest and detention.
The writ petition is scheduled to be supported by President’s Counsel Sanjeeva Jayawardena together with counsel Rukshan Senadheera, setting the stage for what is likely to become a closely watched court battle over the legality of detention, due process, and the wider Easter Sunday investigation.
