CID Director Shani Abeysekara withdraws 2022 writ petition seeking security as it is guaranteed now

y Lakmal Sooriyagoda

A writ petition filed by former CID Director Shani Abeysekara in 2022, seeking an order directing the authorities to provide him with adequate security, was withdrawn yesterday before the Court of Appeal, as the authorities had already provided the necessary security.

In his writ petition, Shani Abeysekara had sought an order directing the police to provide security for him and his family in compliance with the directives of the National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crimes and Witnesses.

When the matter was taken up before the Court of Appeal, a two-judge bench comprising Justice R. Gurusinghe and Justice Sumudu Premachandra, Counsel Kassala Kamer with Upul Jayasuriya PC, appearing for Shani Abeysekara, sought the court’s permission to withdraw the application. The petitioner’s counsel informed the Court of Appeal that there was an undertaking before the Supreme Court to provide the petitioner with the necessary security in a Fundamental Rights application filed by him.

Taking these facts into consideration, the Court of Appeal allowed the petitioner to withdraw the application, and the petition was accordingly dismissed.

The petitioner had named the National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crimes and Witnesses and several others as respondents.