Former Army Commander General Shavendra Silva, through his lawyer, informed the Court of Appeal today that he is disputing the findings of the Karannagoda Committee appointed to inquire into incidents of violence that occurred following the Galle Face attacks on May 9, 2022.

President’s Counsel Faisz Mustapha, appearing for former Army Commander General Shavendra Silva, told the court that his client is disputing the findings of the Karannagoda Committee on both factual and legal aspects. He contended that the Karannagoda Committee is not a committee that has been appointed under any provision of the law. Mustapha said it was a committee appointed by the former president just to report to him and reiterated that he does not accept the validity of the inquiry.

Faisz Mustapha PC further raised objections to conducting a fresh inquiry relying on the findings of the Karannagoda Committee. He alleged that the Karannagoda Committee report had been released to the media with the motive of tarnishing the reputation of his client based on unfounded allegations.

He raised objections to the withdrawal of the application if it is based on the findings of the Karannagoda Committee report.

President’s Counsel Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing for the petitioners, including several Ministers and parliamentarians, submitted that at no point whatsoever had Mr. Mustapha’s client challenged the board of inquiry report of the military leaders and that in any event, that would not be final and conclusive, as the Minister has now undertaken to additionally conduct a full investigation in terms of the law, and as such, any persons involved in the conspiracy that took place would be finally revealed at such a proposed investigation.

Jayawardena further said:

There is no case for filing objections, as this was a crucial matter as several official governmental institutions and installations were attacked and overrun. He further said that there was even a physical threat to the security of Parliament itself and, therefore, that the masterminds behind these attacks must be duly investigated.

Both parties made these remarks when the writ petition filed by 22 government parliamentarians representing SLPP and several others came up before the Court of Appeal.