Supreme Court sentence lawyer to three year imprisonment for contempt

Colombo, Feb. 9 (Daily Mirror) - The Supreme Court has sentenced an attorney-at-law to three years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of contempt of court.

The Court imposed a three-year term of imprisonment on respondent attorney Priyantha Jayathunga, with the sentence deemed to run from July 1, 2024, as he has been in remand custody in connection with the incident since that date.

The contempt charges relate to allegations that, while appearing in a Supreme Court matter, the respondent attorney made statements accusing three Justices of the Supreme Court of suppressing the truth and acting with strong malice towards him, and further alleged that they were guilty of an offence under Section 289 of the Penal Code.

The judgement was delivered by a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Shiran Gooneratne, Achala Wengappuli and Priyantha Fernando.

Having found the respondent guilty of contempt, the Court proceeded to impose the custodial sentence accordingly.