Appellate Court requested to relist appeal against acquittal of suspects in TNA MP’s murder

Tuesday, 24 January 2017 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A motion has been filed in the Court of Appeal by Shashikala Raviraj, the wife of slain former TNA Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj, requesting the court to relist an appeal filed by the petitioner earlier, which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal last week.

The Court of Appeal on 19 January dismissed an appeal filed by Ms. Raviraj challenging the verdict issued by the Colombo High Court in exonerating all the suspects in the murder of TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj. The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition without considering it since neither the petitioner nor a lawyer representing the petitioner was present in court when it was taken up by the two-judge bench comprising Justice Deepali Wijesundara and Justice Lalith Jayasuriya.

The petition sought an order to set aside the verdict of the Colombo High Court to acquit and release all accused from the case. The aggrieved party informed the court that the document issued by the registry of the High Court of Colombo was incomplete and requested the court to reconsider the appeal after obtaining all the documents. The Colombo High Court on 23 December acquitted all suspects, including three Navy intelligence officers, of the trial from all charges after a special jury reached a unanimous decision. The jury’s decision was that the accused could not be convicted based on the evidence in the case.

Nadarajah Raviraj was shot dead by gunmen riding a motorbike in Colombo on 10 November 2006. His bodyguard, Police Constable Lakshman Lokuwella attached to the Jaffna Police Station, was also killed in the shooting. (Colombopage)