Easter Sunday case: AG asked to consider consenting to bail for accused in remand for over four years

The Supreme Court has asked the Attorney General to consider consenting to bail for the High Court Trial-at-Bar accused, held in remand for over four years in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. The SC said so when two appeals filed by the AG from an order of the Court of Appeal came up. The AG has appealed against the order of the Court of Appeal overruling the preliminary objections of the Additional Solicitor General raised in the Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Murdu Fernando PC, Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz and Justice Priyantha Fernando re-fixed the appeals for argument on 13th October 2023. The appeals related to two accused in the High Court Trial at Bar who had applied for bail from the Court of Appeal under the original jurisdiction provisions vested in the Court of Appeal by Article 138(2) of the Constitution.

Earlier M. M. Zuhair PC, appearing for the two accused, submitted that they had no previous convictions and that four and a half years was an excessively long period of incarceration depriving the accused of a fair trial. He said the Attorney General had unreasonably withheld consent to bail, punishing the accused even before any trial had commenced and violating the presumption of innocence laid down as a fundamental right.

He told the Supreme Court the presiding High Court Trial at Bar Judge had also asked the prosecution at one of the sittings, as to how long more the prosecution was trying to keep the accused in the case in remand!

Additional Solicitor General Harippriya Jayasundara PC appearing for the appellant submitted that it was a case under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and that all 25 accused in the case had applied for bail in the High Court TAB under the PTA Amendment Act of 2022. The High Court refused bail having noted the absence of the AG’s consent to bail. The Addl. SG told Court that instead of appealing to the Supreme Court, the two accused had gone to the Court of Appeal and in the circumstances the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to grant bail.

Justice A. H. M. D. Nawaz queried what the position of the AG on the matter was and how the Additional Solicitor General in the case was taking up that argument when another Additional SG from the same Department was arguing against those submissions, in another case! Justice Murdu Fernando suggested that the AG consider consent to bail and re-fixed the cases.

Jayasundara PC, Additional SG with Akila Dalpathadu SC, Shakthi Jagoda Araachchi SC and Sajith Bandara SC appeared for the appellant.

Zuhair, PC with Rizwan Uvais AAL and Bushra Rizvi Ziyard AAL appeared for the respondents.