Supreme Court Halts Appeal Court Ruling on Deshabandu

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka issued an interim order suspending the implementation of an Appeal Court ruling related to former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Deshabandu Tennakoon.

The Appeal Court had previously invalidated a directive issued by the Attorney General, which instructed that Tennakoon be named as a suspect in the investigation into the violent attack on the GotaGoGama protest site in May 2022. 

At the time of the incident, Tennakoon was serving as the SDIG in charge of the Western Province.

The Supreme Court’s interim order was issued after considering a petition filed by the Attorney General challenging the Appeal Court’s decision. 

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Janak de Silva, Sobhitha Rajakaruna, and Sampath Abeykoon, issued an interim order suspending the implementation of a ruling by the Court of Appeal.

Deshabandu Tennakoon was named as a respondent in the application.

The interim order was issued in response to a petition filed by the Attorney General, challenging the Appeal Court’s decision to invalidate a directive issued on April 19, 2023. 

That directive had instructed that Deshabandu Tennakoon, who was serving as the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Western Province at the time, be named as a suspect in the investigation into the attack on the GotaGoGama protest site.

Tennakoon had filed a petition with the Court of Appeal against the Attorney General’s directive, and on June 26, 2024, the Court of Appeal ruled in his favor, declaring the directive invalid.

Following this, the Attorney General appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. 

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva appeared on behalf of Deshabandu Tennakoon and raised preliminary objections. 

However, after submissions by Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath, the Supreme Court bench overruled the objections and decided to proceed with hearing the petition.

The case is scheduled to be taken up for hearing on November 25.