AG to file limited objections against FR petition on Aranthalawa Massacre

The Attorney General has informed the Supreme Court that limited objections will be filed against the fundamental rights petition seeking immediate investigations against terrorists responsible for the 1987 Aranthalawa Massacre.

The petition was called before the Supreme Court Judge Bench consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Murdu Fernando, and S. Thurairajah today (22).

Speaking on behalf of the Attorney General (AG), Senior State Counsel Avanthi Perera stated that the AG will submit limited objections requesting the court to reject the relevant petition.

She stated that she received instruction on the petition from the Police this morning, and therefore requested the court to allocate a date to make the relevant submissions.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered the State Counsel to file the limited objections before September 30 and the petitioner to file their objections before October 09.

Subsequently, the case will be heard on November 12, the court passed.

The petition has been filed by Ven. Andaulpatha Buddhasara Thero, who survived the attack while the Attorney General, Acting Inspector General of Police, and the Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS) Suresh Sallay have been named respondents of the petition.

The petitioner points out that, 31 Buddhist monks and several civilians were killed in an attack by the LTTE on July 02, 1987. While many terrorists responsible for the attacks are still alive, no legal action has been taken against them, the petitioner says.

Thereby, the petitioner seeks a court order on the defendants to launch an investigation against the terrorists responsible for the attack and are still alive today. The petition further demands an amount of Rs 20 million to be paid by the government as compensation for the fundamental rights violated by the attack.