Easter Attacks: Dates fixed for Maithripala’s writ against private complaint

The Court of Appeal today (17 March) ordered for the writ petition filed by former President Maithripala Sirisena challenging a private complaint filed against him regarding the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019 to be heard on 31 July.

The order was issued this morning by a two-judge bench comprising of Court of Appeal President Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice A. Marikkar.

Accordingly, the petition will be heard before a five-judge Appellate Court bench on 31 July and 09 August.

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.