The Colombo High Court has issued an order halting proceedings in the traffic accident case against Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court.
Ada Derana reported that the High Court made the order after considering a revision petition filed by Seneviratne himself. Hiru News described the order as an interim injunction preventing the case from continuing in the lower court.
Neither outlet gave the grounds on which the revision petition was filed, the name of the judge who issued the order, or a date for the High Court to take the matter up again.
Background
The case concerns a 2023 crash on Marine Drive in Wellawatte. In May, Seneviratne pleaded guilty before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court to one of three charges — failure to prevent a road accident under Section 181 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — while contesting charges of reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol. The magistrate fixed a date to deliver an order on sentencing and to decide whether the remaining charges would proceed.
Friday’s stay order appears to suspend that lower-court process while the High Court reviews the revision petition.
Seneviratne is the senior civil servant overseeing the police and the CID, the agencies that prosecute traffic-offence cases.
Sources: Ada Derana, Hiru News.
