A Colombo Fort Magistrate on Tuesday (1) rejected a request by former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Suresh Sallay to remove the ongoing Easter Sunday attacks investigation from the supervision of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director Shani Abeysekara and transfer it to another independent investigative unit.
The order was issued by Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena after considering a motion filed by lawyers appearing on behalf of Sallay.
Counsel for the former intelligence chief had argued that the investigation should be taken away from the current CID Director and entrusted to an independent investigative unit to ensure a fair and impartial inquiry.
After considering the submissions, the Magistrate ruled that the Magistrate’s Court has no legal authority under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to order a change of investigating officers or transfer an investigation involving a suspect detained under the Act. Accordingly, the request was dismissed.
The court also rejected Suresh Sallay’s request to make a confidential statement before the Magistrate under Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In addition, the Magistrate directed the CID to produce Sallay before the court via video conferencing for future proceedings.
