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CoA dismisses writ against Karannagoda indictment withdrawal

10 Nov 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita The Court of Appeal (CoA) yesterday (10) rejected the writ petition filed requesting to revoke Attorney General (AG) Sanjay Rajaratnam (PC)’s decision to withdraw the indictment filed in the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar against former Navy Commander and Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda in connection with the case of the Navy being implicated in the alleged abduction and disappearance of 11 youths in Colombo in the 2008-2009 period. The Court of Appeal had stated that the AG has the discretion to indict or not, and had noted that the Court of Appeal cannot intervene in this discretion. The petition was filed by relatives of the 11 youths. The petitioners had noted that when the AG had indicted Karannagoda, this must have been due to having sufficient evidence and that dropping the charges that led to the indictment without just cause is a misuse of the AG's power. Karannagoda was named as an accused in the case filed against a group of naval intelligence officers pertaining to the alleged enforced disappearance of 11 youths in Colombo in 2008 and 2009. On 4 August, the AG had informed the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar not to, temporarily, proceed with the indictment against Karannagoda, as the Court of Appeal had, in connection with a writ petition filed by Karannagoda, issued an interim order, halting the hearing of the indictment filed against him. On 13 October, the AG had again informed the Court of Appeal that the indictment against Karannagoda will not proceed, when the writ petition filed by Karannagoda against naming him as an accused of this case was taken up before the Court of Appeal. The parents of the 11 youths who were allegedly abducted and forcibly disappeared by a group of naval intelligence officers have also filed a complaint with the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on 9 August against the AG.  


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