Acquittal of Hemasiri and Pujith- from Easter Sunday attack case Supreme Court orders resumption of trial

• The Supreme Court further observed that there are grounds for the High Court-at-Bar to proceed with the trial and therefore direct the High Court-at-Bar to call upon the accused for their defence

by Lakmal Sooriyagoda  
While setting aside the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar judgment which acquitted former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando of charges related to the Easter Sunday attack case, the Supreme Court yesterday ordered the Trial-at-Bar to proceed with the trial and to call upon the accused to present their defence.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Yasantha Kodagoda, Kumudini Wickremasinghe, Mahinda Samayawardhena, and Arjuna Obeyesekere, delivered this judgment in response to two separate appeals filed by the Attorney General challenging the High Court Trial-at-Bar’s order to acquit Jayasundara and Fernando.  
Taking into account the complexity and gravity of the case, the Supreme Court held that it was not appropriate for the High Court Judges to acquit the accused without calling for their defence.  
The Supreme Court further observed that there are grounds for the High Court-at-Bar to proceed with the trial and therefore direct the High Court-at-Bar to call upon the accused for their defence and continue with the rest of the trial.  
On February 18, 2022, the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar ordered to acquit two accused from the charges without calling defence, on the basis that the prosecution evidence had failed to establish the commission of the offences against the accused in the indictments.  
The Attorney General had filed indictments consisting of 855 charges against former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando for their failure and illegal omission to prevent the terrorist attacks between April 7, 2019 and April 21, 2019.