Court of Appeal calls for records in Trincomalee monk remand case

Colombo, Jan. 22 (Daily Mirror) - The Court of Appeal today directed the Registrar of the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court to immediately submit the journal entries and voice recordings relating to the magisterial inquiry into an incident in which two Buddhist monks, including Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thera, were remanded for placing a Buddha statue in Trincomalee.

The order was made by a two-judge bench comprising the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando, when a writ petition filed by Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thera was taken up for consideration.

The petition challenges the legality of the remand order issued by the Trincomalee Magistrate, who had ordered the remand of the monks on allegations of violating coastal conservation laws in connection with the installation of the Buddha statue.