Supreme Court Awards Compensation to Ravi and Shani In FR Case

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Supreme Court today ruled that the fundamental rights of former Criminal Investigation Department senior officers Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara were violated by former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, former DIG Palitha Siriwardena, and Police Inspector Induka Silva, following allegations that the two officers had deliberately concealed intelligence related to the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks for political reasons.

The ruling was delivered in response to a fundamental rights petition filed by Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara.

The petition had been filed seeking protection from arrest in connection with investigations launched following a complaint made during the last presidential election period by a group of police officers led by then Deputy Inspector General Palitha Siriwardena concerning the Easter Sunday attacks.

The judgment was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Gihan Kulatunga with the concurrence of Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Achala Wengappuli.

Delivering the verdict, Justice Gihan Kulatunga held that former Deputy Inspector General Palitha Siriwardena had acted maliciously and lodged a complaint against the petitioners before the Criminal Investigation Department based on political motives.

The Court further found that the investigations carried out on the basis of that complaint had resulted in the violation of the petitioners' fundamental rights by the second respondent, Police Inspector Induka Silva, the seventh respondent, former Deputy Inspector General Palitha Siriwardena, and the eighth respondent, former Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered retired Deputy Inspector General Palitha Siriwardena to pay compensation of Rs. 50,000 each to Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara. Former Chief Police Inspector Induka Silva was additionally ordered to pay Rs. 10,000 each to the two petitioners.

In their petition, Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekara stated that following the inaugural meeting of the retired police collective affiliated with the National People's Power in Maharagama in 2023, a group including then Deputy Inspector General Palitha Siriwardena and then Assistant Superintendent of Police Senaka Kumarasinghe held a media briefing during which false and malicious allegations were levelled against them.

The petitioners maintained that, during that media briefing, they were accused of deliberately suppressing intelligence warnings relating to the Easter Sunday attacks despite allegedly having prior knowledge of the threat.

Rejecting those allegations, the petitioners argued that the complaint had been fabricated for political purposes and that it created a serious risk of them being arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Through the petition, they sought interim orders preventing their arrest or detention based on the complaint and restraining authorities from issuing detention orders against them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Delivering its judgment today, the Supreme Court also ordered that the petitioners should not be arrested and that no further investigations should be conducted against them in relation to the complaint in question.