SC refuses to declare Tissanayagam etention illegal

Wasantha Ramanayake

The Supreme Court yesterday refused to declare that Sunday Times Columnist J.S. Tissanayagam had been illegally detained exceeding 90 days in the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID).

Delivering its Order, Court noted that it was unable to hold that the petitioner had been kept in the detention exceeding 90 days illegally without being produced before a Court of competent jurisdiction.

According to the Court Order, Senior State Counsel Parinda Ranasinghe for the respondents, mentioning the dates that the petitioner had been produced before the Magistrate, had submitted that the petitioner had been produced before a Court of competent jurisdiction on several occasions.

He had further submitted that regulation 19/1 would permit the Defence Ministry Secretary to make an Order that a person taken into the custody be detained for a period not exceeding one year. He said the intention of the legislature was to have persons arrested in terms of the Emergency Regulation be detained in specified places such as the TID enabling a swift and more efficient investigations of serious crimes.

Petitioner J.S. Tissanayagam complained to Court that he had been detained illegally exceeding 90 days by the TID.

The petitioner had also filed a Fundamental Rights application in the Supreme Court against his arrest and detention which was pending.

In that case he had stated that he had not any involvement with the LTTE and sought to secure his release.

The petitioner cited OIC TID Prasanna de Alwis, IGP, the Attorney General and several others as respondents. Romesh de Silva PC with J.C. Weliamuna and M.A. Sumanthiram appeared for the petitioner.

SSC Parinda Ranasinghe appeared for the respondents.