COLOMBO, Monday – The Court of Appeal has concluded hearing the writ petition filed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking judicial intervention to prevent his arrest or detention in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.
The Court has fixed September 22 to deliver its decision on whether leave to proceed will be granted in respect of the application.
The petition seeks relief against any move by investigating authorities to arrest or detain the former President as investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks continue. Counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the application raises important legal issues warranting the intervention of the Court.
The Attorney General’s Department opposed the application during the hearing, maintaining that the Court should decline to grant the relief sought. Following submissions from both parties, the Court reserved its decision until September 22.
The ruling expected on that date will not determine the substantive merits of the allegations surrounding the Easter Sunday investigations. Instead, the Court will decide whether the petition satisfies the legal threshold necessary for the writ application to proceed to a full hearing.
If leave to proceed is granted, the case will continue before the Court of Appeal, where the legal issues raised by the petitioner will be examined in greater detail before any final determination is made. Should leave be refused, the writ proceedings would ordinarily come to an end, subject to any further legal remedies that may be available.
The petition forms part of the continuing legal developments arising from investigations into the coordinated Easter Sunday terrorist attacks of April 21, 2019, which claimed more than 260 lives and injured hundreds more.
The attacks remain among the darkest chapters in Sri Lanka’s recent history and continue to generate significant judicial, political and public scrutiny.
The fixing of September 22 therefore represents an important procedural milestone rather than a determination of liability or innocence. The Court has yet to express any view on the merits of the petition itself, with that question depending first on whether the application will be permitted to proceed.
The decision is expected to attract considerable public attention given the continuing national significance of the Easter Sunday investigations and the wider questions of accountability that have remained at the forefront of public debate for more than seven years.
