Charges against Daisy Forrest cannot be maintained due to dementia - Defence tells court

By Bhagya Silva  

Defence counsel representing Daisy Forrest, the grandmother of Yoshitha Rajapaksa informed the Colombo High Court that maintaining proceedings against her under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is baseless, as she is suffering from dementia.  

President’s Counsel Anil Silva, making submissions before the Colombo High Court judge Udesh Ranatunga stated that his client suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and therefore maintaining the indictment against her has no legal foundation.He further noted that his client, who is 98 years old, is in such a condition that she is unable to manage even her personal affairs independently. 

Counsel added that given her present mental condition, she has no understanding of the alleged offences or the court proceedings and that she is incapable of understanding or responding to the charges.   It was also pointed out that on March 17, 2017, the Gangodawila District Court had issued an order appointing another person to manage her affairs, recognizing that she was no longer capable of doing so herself.  

Based on a medical report, the court had made that order and doctors have since confirmed that her mental condition cannot be reversed. 

Hence, the President’s Counsel requested the High Court to consider that under these circumstances, continuing the case against her is not feasible.  

Appearing for the prosecution, Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara told court that this is the first time such a matter has been presented before court. He acknowledged that while the prosecution could accept the medical condition of the accused, in light of the District Court’s previous order, this High Court need not take further action regarding that matter.  

The Deputy Solicitor General also stated that the court may call for an updated medical report if it wishes to re examine her present condition and that additional time would be required for that process.  

Judge Udesh Ranatunga then inquired from President’s Counsel Anil Silva, “why the medical report issued eight years ago was not presented to the court earlier? “  

He also questioned why such an important document had not been produced before the Magistrate’s Courtwhere the case was originally heard. The Judge noted that since the accused had legal representation at that time, the document could have been submitted then.  

The Judge further inquired from officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) present in court whether such a document had been tendered to the Magistrate’s Court. The officers responded that no such document had been submitted.  

After considering the submissions, the High Court Judge ordered that the case be recalled on November 26 to inform court of the Attorney General’s position regarding the second accused Daisy Forrest.