A complaint filed by the Fort Magistrate against six individuals including ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ leader and Member of Parliament Dilith Jayaweera, and former Members of Parliament Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila alleging contempt of court, was taken up for consideration before the Court of Appeal today for the second consecutive day.
The matter was heard before a Court of Appeal bench comprising the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Rohantha Abesuriya, along with Justices Chamath Morais and Adithya Patabendige.
During the proceedings, the Court of Appeal ordered that the further hearing of the complaint be adjourned until tomorrow (13). Appearing on behalf of the respondent, Wimal Weerawansa, President’s Counsel Anura Meddegoda stated the following before the court:
“Your Honour, the Magistrate has referred this matter to the Court of Appeal under Section 10(1)(a) of the Act on Contempt of Judicial Institutions (Act No. 08 of 2024). The complaint against my client is based on video footage. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) presented its submissions to the Magistrate by misinterpreting the content of this footage.
My client’s remarks concerned the detention order issued for the detention of Suresh Sallay, the former Director of the State Intelligence Service. He did not make a single reference to the court. In doing so, the Criminal Investigation Department has misled the court and abused judicial power. Consequently, the Criminal Investigation Department has committed contempt of court.”