Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered two Police officers attached to the Homagama Police to personally pay a combined Rs.1 million in compensation after finding violations of a man's fundamental rights arising from unlawful arrest and detention.
The fundamental-rights application was filed by Horalagamage Janaka Pradeep Kumara.
The case arose from events in December 2023 while the petitioner was receiving treatment for dengue fever at Homagama Base Hospital and from his subsequent detention.
The majority decision found violations of the petitioner's constitutional rights protected by Articles 12(1), 13(1) and 13(2).
The officers held personally responsible were Sub-Inspector Chandrapala and Inspector P.R. Maanawadu, who was the Officer-in-Charge of Homagama Police.
The court ordered each officer to pay Rs.500,000 from personal funds, making the total compensation payable by the two officers Rs.1 million.
The majority found that the petitioner had been unlawfully detained and rejected the Police account used to justify the arrest.
The judgment also addressed the drug allegation used in connection with the petitioner's arrest.
The majority concluded that the purported heroin-possession case had been fabricated.
The ruling was reached by a majority of the Supreme Court bench.
The case should therefore be reported as a judicial finding of fundamental-rights violations rather than merely as allegations against the officers.
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