Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne pleaded guilty to one of three charges filed over a 2023 traffic accident on Marine Drive in Wellawatte when the case was taken up before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Newswire reported, citing Mawbima.
Seneviratne’s lawyers told the court their client accepted the first charge — failure to prevent a road accident under Section 181 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — but contested the second and third charges of reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol. Police, appearing for the prosecution, said they had no objection to withdrawing the latter two charges.
Mount Lavinia Magistrate Kanchana Neranjala Silva fixed the case for June 26 to deliver an order on sentencing for the first charge and to decide whether the remaining charges would proceed.
The case, more than two years old, has political weight given Seneviratne’s current portfolio: as Public Security Ministry Secretary he is the senior civil servant overseeing the police and the CID, the same agencies that prosecute traffic-offence cases. The plea closes one of the older personal-conduct files implicating sitting senior officials, but leaves open the question of whether the Section 181 conviction will result in a fine, suspended sentence or other order at the next sitting.
Section 181 captures situations in which a driver — through inattention or failure to take precaution — does not prevent an accident, and is a less culpable category than reckless or impaired driving.
Source: Newswire.
