Date: 09th July 2026
Case No: HC (TAB) 2972/21
Court: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar), Colombo 12.
The case was taken up before the Trial-at-Bar with all accused present, except the 13th accused, and the 17th accused who had passed away.
The 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 18th, and 19th accused were represented by Mr. Kaneel Maddumage, AAL. The 12th and 13th accused were represented by Mr. Niroshan Siriwardane, AAL, with Mr. Ravindu Yasas, AAL. The 20th to 25th accused were represented by Mr. Adam Hailey, AAL. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 14th, and 16th accused appeared in person.
Prosecution Witness No. 19, Dr. Ruhul Huck, was called to give evidence-in-chief. He produced the original MLR dated 30th June 2026, which was marked as ‘N5’. Dr. Ruhul Huck testified that, according to the report, the 12th accused had no visible physical injuries. During cross-examination, Dr. Ruhul Huck testified that the 12th accused was examined by him on 11th November 2019, and that report recorded the 12th accused as being of sound mind and without any physical injuries on the date.
During the cross- examination the PW 19, he was questioned regarding his temporary termination from work for a period of 8 months. The prosecution objected to this line of questioning, submitting that such questions could not be asked from the witness in terms of Section 152 of the Evidence Ordinance. Thereafter, the Court made an order stating that such questions are inadmissible under section 149 and 152 of the Evidence Ordinance, and that under Section 150, Court could make complaints against lawyers who ask such questions during cross-examination. Court then informed Counsel for the 12th accused to reframe the question.
Thereafter, Prosecution Witness No. 4, Police Constable 76661 Rathnayake, gave evidence in-chief and testified that on 1st November 2019, he had taken the 12th accused from Welisara Detention Centre. He further testified that on the same day, he produced the 12th accused before Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Dr. K.K. Jusar with the Medico-Legal Examination Form (MLEF) No. 28/19.
The relevant MLEF which had already been marked as P913, was shown to him, and he testified that after producing the accused before the JMO, the accused was brought to the ASP Ms. Bimshani Jayasinghearachchi’s office at around 17.15 p.m. He further testified that he thereafter produced the 12th accused again to the Welisara Detention Centre again with MLEF No. 28/19.
The witness was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Niroshan AAL appearing for the 12th accused, and by the 11th accused. During the cross examination it was suggested to him that he had never brought the 12th accused before the JMO on 1st November 2019 at 3.00 p.m. The PW 4 was thereafter re-examined by the Prosecution.
Witness No. 6 from the additional witness list, Police Surgeon 66968 Kumara, also gave evidence-in-chief and testified that on 9th November 2019 he had taken the 12th accused from Welisara Detention Centre. He further testified that on the same day, he produced the 12th accused before JMO Dr. K.K. Jusar with MLEF No. 30/19. The relevant MLEF which had already been marked as P914, was shown to him, and he testified that after producing the accused before the JMO, the accused was brought to the ASP Ms. Bimshani Jayasinghearachchi’s office at around 11.00 a.m.
He further testified that he again produced the 12th accused to the Welisara Detention Centre again with MLEF No. 30/19 at 5.55 p.m. The witness was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Niroshan AAL appearing for the 12th accused, and by the 9th and 11th accused. During the cross examination it was suggested to him that he is giving false evidence before the Court. The PW 6 was thereafter re-examined by the Prosecution.
Thereafter, Prosecution Witness No. 18, Police Constable 79403, Dayaratne, gave evidence-in-chief and testified that he produced the 12th accused before Dr. Ruhul Huck, JMO, on 11th November 2021 with MLEF No. 31/19 with the assistance of Police Sergeant Premadasa. The said MLEF was marked as ‘N6’. The Witness was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Niroshan AAL appearing for the 12th accused, and by the 9th and 11th accused.
The prosecution Witness No. 17, Police Inspector, Kapila Bandara from the additional witness list gave evidence-in-chief and was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Niroshan AAL appearing for the 12th accused and was not re-examined. The B reported dated 6th April 2021 filed in the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court Case No. B 917/2/19 was marked as ‘12VD10’.
The Court ordered Summons to be issued on Prosecution Witness No. 12, 13, 14, 16, and 22, directing them to appear before Court on the following day.
Prosecution Witness No. 20, Dr. K.K. Jusar was called to give evidence-in-chief. She testified that the 12th accused was produced before her on 1st November 2019 with MLEF No. 28/19, and she produced the original MLR, which was marked as ‘N7’. The Prosecution also marked the doctor’s copy of MLEF 28/19 as ‘N8’. She further testified that the 12th accused was again produced before her on 9th November 2019 with MLEF No. 30/2019, and she produced the original MLR, which was marked as ‘N9’. The Prosecution marked the doctor’s copy of the MLEF 30/19 as ‘N10’.
The witness was cross-examined by Counsel Mr. Niroshan AAL appearing for the 12th accused. During the cross examination the short history in the N7 was marked as ‘12VD15’ and the potion in N10 stating “ASP එක්ක කතා කළා. confession දෙන්න කිව්වා” marked as ‘12VD16’.
The Prosecution informed Court that the prosecution case relating to the voir dire inquiry of the 12th accused would be concluded on the following day.
The Court ordered Summons to be issued on Prosecution Witness No. 1331, 1298,1299 1410, 2291, and 2244, directing them to appear before Court on 13th July 2026. The Court also ordered Summons to be issued on Prosecution Witness No. 2119, directing that witness to appear before Court on the following day at 2.00 p.m.
The Court further informed that the officer of the Colombo Remand Prison and Magazine Prison to provide medication to the 4th accused and to inform the Court on the following regarding the provision of such medication.
The matter was fixed to be called again on 10th July 2026 at 10.00 a.m. for further trial.
