Nanayakkara Gamage Don Kashyapa Sathyapriya De Silva vs. Manoj – SC/FR APPLICATION NO 502/12-2024

In the case between Nanayakkara Gamage Don Kashyapa and Sathyapriya De Silva (petitioners) and Manoj (Police Constable), J.P.D. Jayasinghe (Sub Inspector of Police/Traffic), the Officer in Charge of the Mt. Lavinia Traffic Division, the Inspector General of Police, and the Attorney General (respondents), the court addressed the issue of an alleged violation of the petitioners’ Fundamental Rights under Article 11 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka due to police assault. It was held that the petitioner had suffered degrading treatment in breach of Article 11, and orders were made for compensation to be paid to the petitioner by the offending officer and the State. The principle reaffirmed was that acts of police brutality constitute a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed against torture