• Says CID-led probes concluded
• Ready to take steps after receipt of report 

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is waiting for Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles to submit to them, a copy of the investigation report with regard to the resignation of Mullaitivu District Judge and Magistrate T. Saravanarajah, and the factors that led to it.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the BASL President Kaushalya Navaratne said that they had come to know that the investigations carried out by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) into Saravanarajah's resignation had now been concluded. 

“The report is said to have been compiled by the relevant institutions. We have requested Alles to submit a copy of it to us. We hope that we will receive it during the course of this week, so that we can take the necessary steps based on it.”

In a letter addressed to the Judicial Service Commission in September 2023, Saravanarajah had tendered his resignation from a range of posts that he had held – the post of District Judge, the post of Magistrate, the post of Family Court Judge, the post of Primary Court Judge, the post of Small Claims Court Judge, and the post of Juvenile Court Judge – the letter read, due to threats to his life and him being under a lot of stress.

Reports that circulated on social media and online platforms suggested that Saravanarajah had resigned and left the country, and that he had received death threats in connection with the lawsuit pertaining to the Kurundimale Viharaya (Kurundi Temple) in Mullaitivu. Following his resignation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe had directed the President's Secretary Saman Ekanayake to launch an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the matter.

The BASL had also reached out to Chief Justice, President's Counsel Jayantha Jayasuriya, Alles, and the Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne in this regard, and requested that the factors that led to Saravanarajah's resignation be looked into through an impartial investigation.