Colombo Additional Magistrate Nuwan Kaushalya has fixed 10 November for the defence evidence inquiry in the case against Jaffna District parliamentarian Dr. Archchuna Ramanathan, Hiru News reported on Thursday.
The date was set after the prosecution closed its evidence at Thursday’s hearing.
The case concerns an alleged vehicle crash and assault on Baseline Road, Colombo, on 22 March 2021. Hiru reports that the magistrate issued the order during proceedings concerning Lasantha Abeywardena, who was driving a car along Baseline Road when the vehicle crashed and an assault took place. Grandpass Police conducted the prosecution.
A long-running file
The Baseline Road matter has moved slowly through the courts for more than five years and has produced repeated warrants when the MP did not appear. A warrant issued in the case was reported in July, and earlier proceedings saw the court order execution of a warrant through the Senior Superintendent of Police in Jaffna after summonses went unanswered.
Ramanathan, a medical doctor elected from the Jaffna District, has faced separate proceedings in the north. In April he was remanded by the Mallakam Magistrate’s Court after his arrest under the Firearms Ordinance over an alleged threat during a land dispute in Periyavilaan — a case unconnected to the Colombo file.
A note on the name
Hiru renders the MP’s name as “Arjuna Ramanathan”. Sri Lankan outlets and this site’s archive have consistently used Archchuna Ramanathan or Ramanathan Archchuna for the same parliamentarian, and the case details — the 22 March 2021 Baseline Road crash and assault, prosecuted by Grandpass Police — match the file reported under that spelling. The variation is a transliteration difference, not a second individual.
Not reported
Hiru does not say what charges Ramanathan faces, whether he was present in court on Thursday, or what the prosecution evidence established. It does not explain the relationship between the MP and Lasantha Abeywardena, the driver named in the order, or say who was assaulted. No other verified newsroom had filed on Thursday’s hearing at the time of writing.
