In the petition dated 01. 02. 2008, the Petitioner prays for a Declaration that the 1st 2nd and 3rd Respondents and/or the State have acted in violation of the Petitioner‟s Fundamental Rights guaranteed to him under Article 11 of the Constitution, constituting torture or cruel or degrading treatment when he was assaulted by the1st,2nd Respondent, and the 3rd Respondent Police officers, who were attached to the
Tissamaharama Police Station in the District of Hambantota.
The version of the Respondents on the other hand was that the incident took place at a Road Block near the Debarawewa junction and that the Petitioner was riding a motorcycle towards the town when the 1st and 2nd Respondents signalled him to stop. The Petitioner at the time was drunk and had fallen off the bike, and when being questioned he attempted to escape, had fallen off the bike twice and injured himself before he was apprehended. When searched the 1st Respondent discovered two packets of heroin inside the wallet of the Petitioner. He had been taken into custody as he was drunk and in possession of heroin.
Therefore as the Petitioner has a history of substance abuse, and the police witnesses had not attended court due to being on special official duty the court does not see evidence of fabrication of evidence The differing versions of events and the subsequent admissions made, cast serious doubt upon the credibility of the Petitioner in accepting these events as true and shows that he was a person who
had earlier been convicted of substance abuse. According to the reasons given above, this Court does not find a contravention of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the Petitioner by Articles 11 and 13(1). The application is dismissed. No costs.
