Former Army Commander General Shavendra Silva through his lawyer today informed Court of Appeal that he is disputing the findings of Karannagoda Committee appointed to inquire into incident of violence following the Galle Face attacks on May 9, 2022.
President’s Counsel Faisz Mustapha appearing for General Shavendra Silva told court that his client is disputing the findings of Karannagoda Committee on both factual and legal aspects.
He contended that Karannagoda Committee is not a committee that has been appointed under any provision of the law.
Mustapha said it was a committee appointed by former President just to report to him and reiterated that he is not accepting the validity of the inquiry.
Faisz Mustapha PC further raised objections for conducting a fresh inquiry relying upon the findings of the Karannagoda Committee.
He alleged that Karannagoda Committee report had been released to the media with the motive of tarnishing the reputation of his client based on unfound allegations.
He raised objections for the withdrawal of the application if it is based on the findings of the Karannagoda Committee report. President’s Counsel Sanjeeva Jayawardena appearing for the petitioners including several Ministers and parliamentarians submitted that no point whatsoever had Mustapha PC’s client challenged the board of inquiry report of the military leaders and that in any event, that would not be final and conclusive, as the Minister has now undertaken to additionally conduct a full investigation in terms of the Law and as such, any persons involved in the conspiracy that took place, would be revealed finally at such proposed investigation.
Jayawardena further said there is no case of filing objections as this was a crucial matter as several official governmental institutions and installations were attacked and overrun.
He further said that there was even a physical threat to the security of Parliament itself and therefore, that the masterminds behind these attacks must be duly investigated.
Both parties made these remarks when the writ petition filed by 22 government Parliamentarians representing SLPP and several others was came up before Court of Appeal.
President’s Counsel Faisz Mustapha with Kuvera de Zoysa PC with Counsel Faisza Mustapha Marka and Sharafi Mohideen appeared for General Shavendra Silva. President’s Counsel Sanjeeva Jayawardena with counsel Rukshan Senadheera appeared for the petitioners.