The Court of Appeal today (27) extended the interim injunction issued preventing the examination of a private plaint filed against Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) former Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva at the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court until 23 July.

The order was issued during a hearing of the writ petition filed by SLFP Chairman Nimal Siripala de Silva.

The petition was heard before a Court of Appeal bench, consisting of Acting President of the Court of Appeal Justice Mohammed Laffar Tahir and Justice Priyantha Fernando.

During the proceedings, the counsels of Thilanga Sumathipala, General Secretary of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), informed court that their clients had decided to withdraw the case currently pending before the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court related to the incident.

Accordingly, the counsels requested court to grant a date for the settlement of the case.

The bench subsequently rescheduled the hearing of the case for 23 July.

The petitioner, Nimal Siripala de Silva, stated that Thilanga Sumathipala, in his capacity as the UPFA General Secretary, is also functioning from the SLFP headquarters.

UPFA General Secretary Thilanga Sumathipala filed a private plaint before the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court alleging that two security officers sealed the doors of his office within the SLFP headquarters. Through the complaint, Thilanga Sumathipala also alleged the unlawful use of force and illegal detention during the incident.

The Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court had previously issued a summons in this regard, directing Nimal Siripala de Silva to appear in court on July 23, 2024. However, de Silva stated that there was insufficient evidence to issue such summons and pointed out that the Court of Appeal had noted this as well. Based on this, Nimal Siripala de Silva further requested court to issue an interim injunction to prevent the examination of the plaint filed against him at the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court.