A Writ Petition filed seeking an order to name Western Province Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon as a suspect and arrest him in a case in the Fort Magistrate’s Court related to the attacks on peaceful protesters at Galle Face on May 9 was dismissed by the Court of Appeal yesterday.
The petition was dismissed by accepting a preliminary objection made earlier by Romesh De Silva PC who appeared for Tennakoon, that the petition was not based on sufficient evidence to be taken up for hearing.
The Appeal Court while delivering the verdict noted that when investigating an incident, it is a discretionary power of the investigating officers to decide whether to arrest a person, record evidence or present them to Court.
The Court has no power to issue a writ to compel the exercise of such discretionary power,the Appeal Court determined. The petition was submitted by Lawyer Ramalingam Ranjan.
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