A writ petition filed by M.G. Lasanthi, the wife of one of the 11 inmates killed in the Mahara Prison incident, was taken up before the Court of Appeal today.
During the hearing, the Additional Solicitor General, representing the Attorney General, stated before the Court of Appeal that the Mahara incident was a riot, making it impossible to identify the individuals responsible for the deaths. He further mentioned that the extensive property damage caused during the riot rendered the issuance of indictments unnecessary.
However, Senior Counsel Lakshan Dias, representing the petitioner, argued that on January 22 of this year, the Attorney General had informed the court of plans to file indictments against the suspects. Several investigations were reportedly ongoing at that time to support the charges. He pointed out that the Attorney General’s decision to now deem indictments unnecessary demonstrates a contradictory stance (double standards).
The Attorney General had previously informed the court in mid-October that no further steps were necessary concerning the incident and that the related file would be closed, marking the end of the criminal investigation into the matter.
Accordingly, the investigations revealed that officers of the Special Task Force (STF), deployed during the incident for security purposes, had acted lawfully to ensure the safety of both officials and inmates. The findings also confirmed that the officers had not exceeded the bounds of their duty or violated any individual’s personal security rights. Based on these conclusions, the Attorney General highlighted that prison officials acted in compliance with Section 77 of the Prisons Ordinance.
