The Supreme Court has ruled that the brutal assault on a lorry driver by two officers at the Thalathuoya Police Station in Kandy violated the fundamental human rights guaranteed under Articles 11 and 12(1) of the Constitution.
The three-judge bench, which delivered its unanimous verdict condemning police brutality, said it was time for the government to urgently address the systemic problem of police brutality.
The verdict stated that the petitioner’s rights guaranteed under Articles 11 and 12(1) of the Constitution were violated by the assaults, torture and inhuman treatment inflicted by two police officers.
The petition was filed by a 46-year-old lorry driver from the Kandy district. He had been using a tipper truck belonging to a police officer named Ranaweera to transport sand from Mahiyangana.
On February 26, 2019, he was charged before the Mahiyangana Magistrate’s Court for transporting sand without a license for the vehicle. After the incident, the petitioner had told the owner of the tipper truck, Ranaweera, that he would no longer transport sand without a legally required license.
Police officer Ranaweera, who was angry with the petitioner, stated in his petition that two other police officers had brutally assaulted him while the petitioner was sleeping in the lorry.
He then put him in a police jeep and took him away without telling him or his family where he was being taken. He says. He also said that he was continuously beaten during this time. The incident took place on or around April 1, 2019.
High Court Judge Arjun Obeysekara stated in his judgment:
“This court has repeatedly stated that police brutality in any form and at any level must be stopped. Unfortunately, the judgments pronounced by this court have not been heard by both the IGP and the National Police Commission. Therefore, it is time for the government to intervene, examine the causes of police brutality and take action,”
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Priyantha Fernando and Sampath Wijeratne, concurring with the judgment given by Justice Arjun Obeysekara, gave this judgment.