Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa informed the Supreme Court that he is willing to provide testimony regarding the habeas corpus case filed over the disappearance of Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan (Lalith – Kugan Case). The petition was filed by the victims’ relatives at the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court.
The announcement was made today (30) by President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, appearing on behalf of Rajapaksa, during the hearing of a related appeal before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Yasantha Kodagoda, Kumuduni Wickremasinghe, and Shiran Gooneratne.
However, counsel de Silva informed the Court that due to prevailing security concerns, Rajapaksa would be unable to appear before the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court and instead expressed readiness to testify before a court in Colombo.
The bench directed Rajapaksa’s legal team to make necessary arrangements to present this request to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court and obtain appropriate orders within four weeks from today.
Counsel de Silva also requested the Supreme Court to terminate proceedings related to the appeal, given Rajapaksa’s willingness to testify—a position supported by Attorney Nuwan Bopage, appearing on behalf of the petitioners.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court decided to conclude the hearing of the appeal.
The case stems from a habeas corpus application regarding the disappearance of Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan on 9 December 2011. In 2019, a notice was issued summoning then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appear in court to provide evidence in the matter.
Rajapaksa later challenged the notice at the Court of Appeal, stating that appearing in Jaffna would not be feasible due to security reasons. The Court of Appeal granted a writ order quashing the earlier notice and relieving Rajapaksa from appearing in Jaffna.
Subsequently, the families of the disappeared activists filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision and restore the original notice.
