Court rejects Police Commission Secretary's anticipatory bail application

A court today (Jul 17) rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by Police Commission Secretary Saman Dissanayake seeking to prevent his arrest over the Avant Garde illegal floating armoury case.

The verdict was issued by Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake today (Jul 17).

During today's hearing, the Fort Magistrate's court had announced that it did not have the jurisdiction to grant bail over cases involving charges under the Firearms Ordinance.

The anticipatory bail application had been filed after the Attorney General had instructed the Acting Police Chief to arrest Dissanayake along with seven others over the case.

Charges had been levelled against the suspects for violating the Firearms Ordinance, Explosives Ordinance, and the Penal Code.

Previously, the lawyer appearing for Dissanayake had told the court that his client had only performed his duties as instructed by his higher officials. He had also argued that it was unfair to arrest only low ranking police officers without arresting the higher-ups.

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