How Did Salley's Diplomatic Passport Reappear? Passport Stamps Raise Tough Questions

COLOMBO (News 1st); Former State Intelligence Service Chief Suresh Salley did not come before court with clean hands and therefore his writ petition should be dismissed without even issuing notice, Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath told the Court of Appeal today.

Salley filed the petition challenging the move to arrest and detain him in connection with ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

The petition is being heard before a bench comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando.

Responding to submissions made by lawyers appearing for Suresh Salley, who argued that Criminal Investigation Department Director Shani Abeysekara should be removed from the investigation, Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath addressed the court.

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Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath

"My Lords, this petition was first taken up on May 7. On that occasion, the petitioner relied on statements made by Azad Maulana. Thereafter, when the petition was taken up on June 4, submissions were made alleging that the petitioner had been subjected to torture while in the custody of investigators. When the matter was taken up on June 10, the petitioner stated that investigators from the United States FBI had come to Sri Lanka to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks and had subsequently filed cases in the United States against Mohamed Naufer and others. The petitioner further stated that an FBI investigator had submitted an affidavit to court and that the affidavit confirmed Zaharan Hashim as the mastermind behind the Easter attacks. When the petition was taken up on June 11, the petitioner referred to five reports, including the Jayaki De Alwis Report, the Malalgoda Committee Report and the Imam Commission Report, and argued that Shani Abeysekara could not conduct investigations because certain commission reports contained adverse observations concerning him. Over seven days, the petitioner's primary argument was that this investigation should not, under any circumstances, be conducted by CID Director Shani Abeysekara.Two other suspects connected to this investigation are currently being held on remand. Investigations into them are also being conducted under the supervision of the Director of the CID. Therefore, there is absolutely no basis for removing this investigation from the CID Director as requested by the petitioner.The petitioner has alleged that Shani Abeysekara harbours personal animosity towards him. He had also requested the Magistrate's Court to remove Shani Abeysekara from the investigation. That request was rejected. The original complaint in this matter was lodged by Rev. Father Rohan Silva with the Ministry of Public Security. The Secretary to the Ministry subsequently forwarded the complaint to the Inspector General of Police, who then referred it to the Criminal Investigation Department for investigation. The first B Report relating to this investigation was filed on November 11, 2024. At that time, Shani Abeysekara was not serving in the CID and was not even in active police service. Furthermore, on November 15, 2024, the CID obtained overseas travel bans against Suresh Salley and Pillayan. Those orders were not obtained by Shani Abeysekara. The CID Director at the time was Mangala Dehideniya. Investigations were also conducted under another Director, Himesha Muthumali. This is a serious investigation. If the CID is not to investigate it, should it be handled by the Pettah Police?"

Meanwhile, court was also told today that Suresh Salley had allegedly made statements intended to mislead investigators.

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Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath

"My Lords, the petitioner has stated that he left for India on January 3, 2019, to attend a defence course and returned only in December of that year. Copies of both his diplomatic passport and official passport have been submitted to court together with this petition. During questioning by the CID regarding his travel documents, the petitioner stated that after returning from his posting at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Malaysia, he had handed over his diplomatic passport to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, he has produced a certified copy of that same diplomatic passport. If the passport had in fact been handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how was he able to produce a certified copy of it before court? A passport consists of 64 pages. Yet only 17 or 18 selected pages from the diplomatic passport have been submitted to court. Only four pages from the official passport have been submitted. On page 56 of the official passport, several immigration stamps can be seen. There is a departure stamp from Indian immigration dated May 18, 2019. There is also an entry stamp from Indian immigration in June 2019.The petitioner informed court that after travelling to India for the defence course, he never left India. However, these stamps clearly show that he departed India during that period, My Lords."

Counsel appearing for Suresh Salley then attempted to produce the diplomatic passport before court.

Objecting to this, Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath argued that the petitioner had not come before court with clean hands.

She alleged that despite having possession of the diplomatic passport, the petitioner had falsely claimed otherwise and had thereby attempted to mislead investigators.

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Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath

"My Lords, former CID Deputy Inspector General Prasad Ranasinghe has provided a statement to the CID explaining how petitioner Suresh Salley allegedly obstructed investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. Following the explosion in Sainthamaruthu in 2019, there was considerable discussion regarding whether a woman named Sarah Jasmine had survived and fled to India. Suresh Salley repeatedly accused the CID during investigative review meetings of failing to properly investigate the matter. At those meetings, the petitioner maintained that Sarah Jasmine had died at the scene and repeatedly alleged that proper DNA examinations had not been carried out. The statement of the former Deputy Inspector General confirms this. The petitioner's position was that another DNA test should be conducted. According to the Deputy Inspector General's statement, he subsequently succeeded in having that carried out through the intervention of the President. This statement by the Deputy Inspector General is included in the B Report submitted to the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court on March 11, 2026."

Meanwhile, Attorney-at-Law Suren D. Perera, appearing for Rev. Father Rohan Silva, who has been named as a respondent in Salley's writ petition, told court that the Jayaki De Alwis Commission Report had never been officially published.

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Attorney-at-Law Suren D. Perera

"My Lords, the petitioner has submitted what he claims is the Jayaki De Alwis Commission Report together with this case. However, that report has never been officially published. Former Minister Udaya Gammanpila presented it at a media briefing. What has been submitted to court is merely a photocopy of that committee report. It has been produced in a manner contrary to the rules governing proceedings before the Court of Appeal."

The President of the Court of Appeal directed counsel for the petitioner to clarify the matter at the next hearing.

The petition is scheduled to be taken up again tomorrow.