The Court of Appeal has issued a writ order preventing the arrest or detention of former Public Security Minister Tiran Alles and directors, representatives and employees of Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd in connection with a complaint arising from a commercial transaction.
The order was issued by a two-member bench comprising Justices Shashi Mahendran and Pradeep Hettiarachchi following the hearing of a writ petition filed by Ceylon Newspapers, the publisher of Mawbima and Ceylon Today.
According to the petition, the dispute arose over several post-dated cheques issued in connection with the purchase of paper from L.P.L. Kesara Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
Kesara Lanka subsequently lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which conducted an investigation and reported the facts to the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.
The petitioners argued that the dispute was civil in nature and arose from a commercial transaction, and that treating it as a criminal matter was unlawful.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Mahendran, with the concurrence of Justice Hettiarachchi, held that the matter related to a commercial transaction and that sufficient evidence had not been presented to establish criminal wrongdoing by the petitioners.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal issued a writ restraining the arrest or detention of Alles and the company’s directors, representatives and employees in connection with the complaint.
The order was issued against the Inspector General of Police, the Director of the CID and the Officer-in-Charge of the CID’s Commercial Crime Investigation Division.
However, the court clarified that the order does not prevent authorities from continuing their investigations or taking appropriate legal action if new evidence emerges.
President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva and a team of lawyers appeared for the petitioners on the instructions of Attorney-at-Law Sanath Wijewardena.
