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Land
fraud case: Aggrieved party appeals for change of judge Mr. Fernando alleged the court had treated Senior State Counsel S Thurairajah with scant respect. He said that before he made the written application he had referred the matter to the Attorney General. Counsel said that the expert witness Professor of forensic science Chandra Sekeran from India was threatened with death which resulted in the state providing him security. Senior State Counsel’s vehicle was damaged while it was at the car park. He also said a request by court to the Attorney General. to replace the Senior .State.Counsel. was refused. He
informed court that he was appearing on behalf of the client as
an attorney and not as the Bar Association President. Defence counsel
M.L.M. Ameen said it was the accused who were threatened prior to
the trial.He said the aggrieved party had not accepted the report
of the Government Examiner of Questioned Documents and had summoned
a private witness from India to give evidence to in connection with
the alleged forged documents. Defence counsel Anuja Premaratna also raised objections to the application and claimed that Mr. Desmond Fernando being the President of the BASL was trying to influence court proceedings. Senior State Counsel S. Thurairajah agreed with the application of the aggrieved party and said it was a fair request and the Attorney General has no intention of not proceeding with the case. In response to the application High Court Judge Rohini Perera denied she was under pressure from any party and that the application should be made to a superior court which had the power to direct her to transfer the case to another court .She said that she would not comment on the allegation that the prosecution counsel was not given due courtesy. The case was put off for August 23. |
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