For many years before 1994 the 1st Petitioner had – as an individual – a Dealership Agreement together with the requisite authority under section 5 E of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Act, No. 28 of 1961 as amended (by Act No. 5 of 1963) for running a filling station for the sale, supply and distribution of petroleum. The same filling station was taken over by the petitioners in partnership on a Dealership Agreement signed by the Petitioners on 23.3.94 and by 1st Respondent on 26.10.94 and the petitioners were granted…
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DISSANAYAKE, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW ON BEHALF OF K. M. LAL v. SUJEEWA, SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE, MEETIYAGODA POLICE STATION AND OTHERS S.C. APPLICATION NO. 524/96
At the time this application was filed the victim Lai was unconscious. Subsequently he tendered an affidavit. It was alleged that close to midnight on 02. 06. 1996 when he was sleeping in his house, the 1st respondent and other police officers arrived and arrested him. He was taken to the Meetiyagoda Police station. In the early hours 03. 06. 1996 the 1st respondent assaulted him with hands and feet and a club when he lost consciousness. Later that day the police admitted the victim to Batapola hospital. As per…
Read MoreRIFAIDEEN v. SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE JAYALATH, WELLAWATTE POLICE STATION AND OTHERS SC (SPL) NO. 71/96
The petitioner who was 59 years old, was a “broker* by profession. He has averred that on 27.05.1996, the 1st respondent with some other police officers attached to the Police Station, Wellawatte, took him into custody while he was travelling from Panadura to Colombo. The petitioner alleges that he was taken to the Police Station and was assaulted by the 1st respondent at the instigation of the 2nd respondent. The allegation is that the petitioner was assaulted with sand filled S-lon pipes and he thereby sustained injuries to his head,…
Read MorePRIYANKARA v. PC SISIRA KUMARA, POLICE STATION, PUTTALAM AND OTHERS SC APPLICATION NO 214/96 (SPL.)
The petitioner was travelling in a Puttalam bound bus when a passenger boarded the bus with a lighted cigarette. When the conductor of the bus attempted to stop the smoking, the passenger retaliated by using obscene language. At that stage the petitioner intervened. Then also the passenger retaliated by using obscene language. When the bus reached the Puttalam bus stand the passenger challenged the petitioner. The petitioner attempted to escape but the passenger assaulted the petitioner repeatedly. Thereafter, the petitioner visited the Puttalam Police Station and complained to the OIC,…
Read MoreBENNETT RATHNAYAKE v. THE SRI LANKA RUPAVAHINI CORPORATION AND OTHERS | 199 2SLR 93
The petitioner produced a Sinhala telefilm entitled “Makara Vijithaya” at a cost, he said, of Rs. 2.3 million. The 1st respondent Corporation refused to telecast the petitioner’s telefilm during “prime time” for telefilms of that type, viz between 8.30 pm and 9.00 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The telefilm was reviewed on three occasions by different boards. On each occasion the decision was adverse to the petitioner. But he was not told who the members of the board were, how they had been appointed, what procedure they would follow,…
Read MoreNALIKA KUMUDINI, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, (ON BEHALF OF MALSHA KUMARI) v. NIHAL MAHINDA, O.I.C. HUNGAMA POLICE AND OTHERS S.C. APPLICATION (F.R.) NO. 615/95
Malsha Kumari a 14 year old girl was arrested at her house by police officers of the Hungama Police Station. She was questioned about the theft of a gold chain and assaulted by Police Officers both at the time of her arrest and at the Police Station. The 1st respondent, officer- in-charge of the Police Station, assaulted her with a hose-pipe and trampled her. Thereafter her hands were tied behind her back and she was hung on a tree with a rope. While she remained hung the 1st respondent beat…
Read MoreABASIN BANDA v. S. I. GUNARATNE & OTHERS S.C. APPLICATION NO. 109/95.
The Petitioner alleges that he was arrested at about 6 p.m. on 1, March 1995, for no reason. He was taken to the Hanguranketha Police Station where the 1st Respondent assaulted him with a piece of wood. He was produced before the Magistrate in the morning of 2, March, 1995. The Petitioner states that he was waiting for a bus at the Rikillagaskada junction to go home, after selling cloth. Then the 1st respondent arrived in a jeep with two Police Constables and arrested him. The petitioner was not informed…
Read MoreJAYAWARDENA v. DHARANI WIJAYATILAKE, SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS| 2001 1SLR 32
The petitioner was an Inquirer into Sudden Deaths, Gampaha, appointed to that office by the then Minister of Justice by his letter dated 13.12.1993 for a period of 3 years from 01.12.1993. He complained that the 1st respondent (Secretary, Ministry of Justice) purported to cancel his appointment with effect from 31.05.1995 by a letter dated 26.5.1995 written by the Is1 respondent; that by another letter dated 26.5.1995 the l 31 respondent informed the 3rd respondent that the 2nd respondent (Minister of Justice) had appointed the 3rd respondent as the Inquirer…
Read MoreW. K. C. PERERA v. PROF. DAYA EDIRISINGHE AND OTHERS | 1995 1SLR 148
Under the Rules “Advanced Drawing” was not a main subject for the final examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts. Where the Rules are clear and unambiguous it is impermissible and unnecessary to refer to the Examination Criteria in order to interpret the Rules. For a student who has selected Design, “Advanced Drawing” is a subject but not a “Main subject”. In respect of a student who selected Design the only requirement for an ordinary pass is that she should obtain an average of 40% in the examination.…
Read MoreLUCAS APPUHAMY v. MATURATA AND OTHERS S.C. APPLICATION NO. 87/94.
Where there were sufficient grounds for suspecting that a cognizable offence had been committed by the petitioner, his arrest without a warrant was in accordance with procedure prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure and therefore not in violation of Article 13(1) of the Constitution. Where the medical evidence of the injuries found on the petitioner was consistent with the version of the Police that they had been sustained in the process of the use of reasonable force in making the arrest, it cannot be said that a violation of…
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