Former State Minister Premalal Jayasekara had already left Sri Lanka when the Supreme Court ordered him not to leave it, the Criminal Investigation Department has found.
Jayasekara flew out on 31 August, Hiru News reported, citing CID sources. The court order came four days later. Ada Derana reported that the departure surfaced only when the CID began implementing the order, and that Jayasekara had booked a return flight before leaving.
What the order was for
The Supreme Court barred Jayasekara and two co-accused from travelling overseas on 4 September and directed that the ban be communicated to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration. All three were ordered to appear before the court on 21 October 2026.
Both outlets now name the bench, which no report carried at the time: Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Gihan Kulatunga.
The three men were sentenced to death by the Ratnapura High Court over a fatal shooting at a political rally during the 2015 presidential election period, and were later acquitted and released by the Court of Appeal. An aggrieved party has appealed that acquittal to the Supreme Court, asking it to set the acquittal aside and restore the sentence. The travel ban was issued in that proceeding.
An outlet discrepancy
Hiru dates the Supreme Court order to “the 11th.” Ada Derana says 4 September, which matches its own reporting on the day the order was made. The 4 September date is the one supported by the record.
Not reported
Neither outlet says which country Jayasekara travelled to, when his return booking is for, or whether the CID has asked the court for further orders now that the ban cannot be enforced at the border.
Neither addresses a question raised by the case file: when the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate’s Court released Jayasekara on bail in April over a separate allegation that he threatened a man with a pistol, it ordered his passport impounded as a condition of release. No outlet has reported whether that order lapsed, was varied, or remained in force on 31 August.
