COLOMBO (NewsRadio); A five-member bench of the Court of Appeal will hear the writ petition filed by former President Maithripala Sirisena challenging a private plaint filed against him pertaining to the 2019 Easter Sunday Bombings on 31 July.
The order was issued today when the matter was taken up before a two-member bench comprising of President of the Court of Appeal Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice A Marikkar.
The Court of Appeal previously directed the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court to postpone the hearing of the private plaint filed against former President Maithripala Sirisena over the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks for 10 weeks.
The order was issued when the Appeals Court considered the writ petition filed by former President Sirisena over the matter.
Through his petition, former President Sirisena requested Court to suspend a notice summoning him before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court over a private complaint filed against his inability to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks despite having prior intelligence information.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court after considering a complaint lodged by Rev. Father Cyril Gamini and a victim of the Easter attacks issued summons for former President Sirisena, who was named as the respondent, to appear before Court.
The former President in the writ petition stated that the complaint was filed based on hearsay.
The petition also claimed that summons issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court for him to appear before Court based on the said evidence is against the law.
Accordingly, former President Maithripala Sirisena requested the Court of Appeal to issue an interim order suspending proceedings against him at the Fort Magistrate’s Court and to issue an order to invalidate the summons.
The Appeals Court has accordingly announced that the matter will be taken up before a five-member bench in July and August.
