Intervenient-petitioner alleges those who caused terrorism behind ex-SIS chief Sallay’s arrest
Attorney-at-law Manoli Jinadasa told the Court of Appeal that her client Dr. Kumara Kaluarachchi, head, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University, believed that retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay, former head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), had been targeted by the very elements responsible for terrorism in Sri Lanka. Appearing […]
Dr. Kumara Kaluarachchi, director of the Department of Pharmacology at Rajarata University, filed a petition on behalf of former SIS chief Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay, claiming that he had been targeted by those responsible for terrorism in Sri Lanka. Sallay was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in late February of the current year.
The respondents in the case include the Inspector General of Police (IGP), CID Director, Chief Inspector, Attorney General, and various other officials. Dr. Kaluarachchi's attorney argued that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) violates the constitutional rights of citizens, particularly the right to judicial supervision during arrest and detention.
They questioned the use of PTA, as Sallay's arrest could have been carried out under the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows for the arrest and detention of persons accused of offenses under any Act or Law. The attorney also pointed out that the PTA was intended to be used only when there is a current or imminent danger to public safety, and the repeated use of the term "prevent" highlights this limitation.
Another intervener, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, admitted that the detention of Sallay was based on a British Channel 4 documentary, which claimed that Sallay had met Azad Maulana and discussed the Easter Sunday bombings. However, Maulana was a fugitive with an outstanding arrest warrant, and the timeline provided by the petitioner was found to be incorrect, as Sallay was not in the country at the time of the alleged meeting.
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