The Supreme Court has ruled that six officers attached to the Kottawa Police Station violated the fundamental rights of a private bus operator by unlawfully arresting, assaulting, and falsely accusing him of possessing heroin.
The judgment, delivered on Monday (13) by Justice Menaka Wijesundara, with the concurrence of Justices Yasantha Kodagoda and Janak de Silva, ordered the six officers to personally pay Rs. 1 million in compensation to the victim.
The petitioner, Vithanage Sunil, a private bus owner operating on the Kottawa–Pettah route, told the court that on July 9, 2016, he was returning home after visiting a friend when several police officers confronted him, pointed a firearm at his head, forced him to kneel, and physically assaulted him before falsely accusing him of possessing heroin.
He was later produced before the Homagama Magistrate’s Court and remanded. However, a medical report submitted to the court confirmed that he had suffered injuries to his face, chest, forehead, and wrist while in police custody. A subsequent report also confirmed that he had no history of drug use.
Justice Wijesundara, in delivering the judgment, observed that the petitioner had been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment in violation of Article 11 of the Constitution. The Court also ruled that the police officers had failed to produce any credible evidence to justify the arrest or the drug charge.
The officers named in the judgment include then-Officer-in-Charge L.P.B. Samarasinghe, Inspector Cyril Perera, Sub-Inspector Premasiri, and Police Constables Nandana Piyal, Sampath, and Chandra Niroshan.
