Maithripala’s writ to be heard before five-member Appeals Court bench

The Court of Appeal today (March 14) decided to appoint a five-member bench to hear former President Maithripala Sirisena’s writ application challenging a private plaint filed against him over the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

Accordingly, the most senior judges of the Appeals Court will be appointed to this five-member bench.

Further, the Colombo Fort Magistrate has been ordered to refrain from taking any action against the former Head of State pertaining to the said private plaint, until a verdict is delivered following the writ application hearing.

This order was given by a two-member judge bench comprising Appeals Court President, Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice A. Marikkar.

The private plaint had been filed by Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini and a victim of the terror attacks against the former President over his failure to prevent the calamity despite receiving forewarnings from intelligence agencies.

After taking into consideration this private plaint, the Fort Magistrate had issued summons to Sirisena, instructing him to appear before the court.

Later, the former President lodged a writ application before the Appeals Court, alleging that the manner in which the summons were issued is unlawful, thus seeking a writ order revoking the summons.