AG Accuses Former President Rajapaksa of Misleading Court in Easter Attack Writ Petition

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Attorney General informed the Court of Appeal today that the writ petition filed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, seeking an order to prevent his arrest in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attack investigation, contains erroneous information and has misled the court by suppressing factual truths.The petition was taken up for consideration for the fourth consecutive day today before a Court of Appeal bench comprising President of the Court of Appeal Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Sarath Dissanayake.When the petition was taken up, Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath, appearing for the respondents, submitted to the court that the facts presented in the petition were unacceptable.She pointed out that although the petitioner stated in the petition that he had never met Azad Maulana, there are photographs of the petitioner with Azad Maulana, and that the petitioner had suppressed these facts in the petition filed before the court.Stating that the court had been misled by filing of the petition while suppressing the truth, the Deputy Solicitor General asserted that the petitioner, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had not come before court with clean hands.Suharshi Herath further stated that the second respondent, Shani Abeysekera, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), holds no malicious intent toward the petitioner.She noted that the petitioner’s requests pertain to matters concerning Fundamental Rights, and observed that the term "obstruction of liberty" had been used more than forty times by the President's Counsel appearing for the petitioner during his submissions.Accordingly, she requested that the petition be referred to the Supreme Court in line with Article 126 of the Constitution.The hearing was then adjourned to the 23rd of July.