COLOMBO : A Supreme Court judge recused himself from hearing the Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions filed by MP Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother Riyaj Bathiudeen challenging their arrest and detention over the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
The FR petitions were taken up on Monday,July 5, before a three-member bench consisting of Supreme Court Justices Murdu Fernando, Achala Vengappuli and Mahinda Samayawardena.
However, Justice Mahinda Samayawardena then informed that he would be recusing himself from the petition hearings due to personal reasons.
Accordingly, the petition was fixed to be taken up before a different judge bench on July 08.
Justice Samayawardena is the fourth Supreme Court Judge to recuse themselves from particular FR petition hearings. On previous occasions Justices Janak de Silva, Yasantha Kodagoda and A.H.M.D. Navas had recused themselves from the consideration of the petitions.
The Criminal Investigation Department took Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian and his brother into custody in the early hours of April 24 over their alleged links to the deadly blasts.
The duo was initially detained for 72 hours under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). However, the CID later obtained permission to detain the two brothers for 90 days for further interrogations.
Rejecting the accusations that they aided and abetted the suicide bombers who perpetrated the Easter Sunday bombings, the Bathiudeen brothers filed two separate FR petitions seeking a Supreme Court order stating that their fundamental rights were violated through this recent arrest and detention. They further sought an interim order for their release.
The Director, Chief Inspector, Deputy Inspector-General (DIG), and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Criminal Investigation Department as well as the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney General have been named as the respondents of the petitions.
