Three senior police officers, including the then-Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Galle area, tendered an unconditional apology before the Supreme Court on Friday to a group of lawyers whose peaceful protest near Galle Fort during the 2022 economic crisis was broken up by police.
The fundamental rights petition was filed through Attorney-at-Law Manjula Balasuriya on behalf of Galle-based attorneys Ajith Kumara and Amaradivakara Liyanage, who alleged their constitutional rights were violated when officers disrupted their July 6, 2022 demonstration and tore down placards. The matter was taken up before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Sampath Wijeratne.
Named as respondents were then-DIG Galle K.N.G. Wedasinghe, the then-Senior Superintendent of Police for the area, and the then-Officer-in-Charge of the Galle Police Station. All three officers appeared in court for the hearing.
A State Counsel told the bench that the officers were extending an unconditional apology and that a written letter of apology would also be filed. President’s Counsel Saliya Pieris, representing the petitioners, said his clients accepted the apology, and the court concluded the case after recording the settlement.
Chief Justice Surasena, addressing the respondents, said: “The complaint by the lawyers related to unlawful actions that had occurred on the day of the incident. The petitioners had appeared before court from Galle and should be appreciated for coming forward to settle the matter. Such relief is not easily obtained.”
The settlement is among the first in-court resolutions of fundamental rights petitions arising from the police response to peaceful protests during the height of the 2022 Aragalaya economic crisis. The same bench earlier this week reserved judgment in a separate fundamental rights petition by former CID chief Shani Abeysekara over his career-interference complaint.
