Hearing on Suresh Sallay's petition deferred

12-Jul-2026

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The Court of Appeal has postponed until July 14 the hearing of a writ petition filed by former State Intelligence Service Chief Suresh Sallay challenging his arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in connection with investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

The petition was taken up on July 10 before a Bench comprising Justices Rohantha Abeysuriya and Priyantha Fernando.

President's Counsel Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing for Sallay, argued that substantial evidence presented before the Janaka de Silva Commission showed that Zahran Hashim had been advancing plans to establish an Islamic State-inspired extremist movement since 2018. He contended that those actions were attributable to Zahran and not to the petitioner, rejecting allegations linking Sallay to the conspiracy.