Where do you live?
Narahenpi Elvitigala flats my lord
Is it your house?
I was living as a tenant for 20 years. After paying the rent to the National Housing Development Authority, I was able to buy that house my lord
What is the square footage of that house?
Five hundred and fifty square feet, sir
This is part of a testimony given by Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekera, former director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), at the Presidential Commission appointed to investigate and report on the Easter Sunday attack.
This piece of evidence is enough to read and understand about Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekera. To understand it better, a sub-inspector working in the police department today should pay attention to the luxurious lives enjoyed by many top police officers and the luxurious homes they are living.
Shani Abeysekera was a police officer who stood for the rule of law, justice and fairness. He was the investigating officer in many serious and controversial cases in the judicial history of this country. Police officer Shani Abeysekara suffered political revenge subsequently after the change of government in 2019. He was falsely accused, arrested and even the salaries were not paid. Various illegal strategies were launched to take revenge against Shani Abeysekere. The extensive of the revenge is the recommendations made on Shani Abeysekera by the “Pissu Poosa” Commission appointed by Military Nandasena.
Shani Abeysekera, the former director of the Criminal Investigation Department, received a summons from the commission that investigated political revenges, according to a complaint filed by Nissanka Senadhipathi, the owner of Avant Guard to the commission. However Shani Abeysekera submitted a petition to the Court of Appeal stating that the commission has no legal authority to investigate his complaint under the condition that Nissanka Senadhipathi was not a government employee. After the petition was called, the commission had come to a consensus that it would not deal with the complaint against Shani Abeysekera.
In spite of that agreement, the final report of the commission has made Shani Abeysekera guilty and made recommendations regarding the complaint of Nissanka Senadhipati. The Court of Appeal, which considered a petition presented by the Court of Appeal regarding this illegal interference by the Commission, recently issued summons to the three former members of the Commission, including Upali Abeyratne, to appear in court to testify about contempt of court.
This is the first time that a former judge of the Supreme Court has been summoned for contempt of court. The petition was heard before the Court of Appeal Judges Nishanka Bandula Karunarathne and R. Gurusinghe.
Military Gotabaya Nandasena, using his powers, established this commission, which was appointed by Special Gazette No. 2157/44 dated January 9, 2020, to investigate political reprisals against public officials from January 8, 2015 to November 19, 2019.
Retired Supreme Court Judge Upali Abeyratne was appointed as the chairman of this commission, retired Court of Appeal Judge Daya Jayathilake, former Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando were the other members of the commission. The final report of this commission, handed over to the President, recommended acquitting the defendants in 79 cases pending in the court.
However Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam informed the Court of Appeal in February this year that the Cabinet has decided not to take further action on the recommendations of the commission appointed to investigate political revenge that was when several petitions that had been submitted against this commission were considered before a panel of judges consisting of judges Nishanka Bandula Karunaratne, DM Samarakoon and Laffar Thahar. Meanwhile, on the 28th of September last year, the Court of Appeal issued a writ petition canceling the implementation of the commission’s recommendations. The writ was issued after hearing a writ petition filed by the Attorney General’s Department Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara in the Court of Appeal. The decision of the Court of Appeal states that the Presidential Commission has exceeded its authority.
In the meantime, four lawyers made a written request to the Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya to check whether the Supreme Court has been defamed by the recommendations of the Political Retribution Commission and take necessary measures. The request was made by lawyers Achala Seneviratne, Senaka Perera, Thambaiya Jeyaratnaraja, and Namal Rajapaksa.
Meantime Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has also questioned about this commission in Parliament on September 7, 2022.
He said the following
……This commission has recommends to withdraw all the cases currently assigned on fraud and corruption. The commission has recommended that the accused be reinstated in their positions. The commission has recommended paying compensation which is a stimulus to those involved in fraud and corruption. A large number of orders to withdraw the cases against them have been presented in this report. This commission has recommended not only to prosecute DIG Ravi Seneviratne, former Director of Criminal Investigation Department Shani Abeysekera and other officials including former Director General Dilrukshi Dias of the Bribery or Corruption Commission, but also to abolish their civil rights. Not only that this commission has made President Ranil Wickremesinghe also an accused in this commission report. Remember It has been suggested that his civil rights also be revoked. He has also been recommended to be prosecuted. This is commonly referred to in the legal profession as the “Pissu Poosa – Crazy cat” Commission Report…”
