Wimal sues Govt. for Rs. 1000 Mn. over passport case
MP Wimal Weerawansa has filed a case with the Colombo District Court, seeking Rs. 1000 million in compensation from the government.
Weerawansa alleged that the Immigration Department and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) made false accusations against Weerawansa, claiming that he used illegal passports, which was extremely damaging to his reputation.
The petition names two authorized officers of the Immigration & Emigration Department and the Attorney General as respondents.
According to the complaint, on October 23, 2015, Wimal Weerawansa was at the Bandaranaike International Airport, preparing to depart for Dubai to attend conferences in three foreign countries.
When he presented his diplomatic passport, Immigration and Emigration officers found it to be inactive, the petition said, following which Weerawansa was arrested by officers of the CID. The arrest was without reasonable cause, Weerawansa said.
The MP points out that after nearly nine years of legal proceedings, the court acquitted him of all charges under the Immigration and Emigration Act. The Parliamentarian was acquitted of the case by the Negombo Magistrate’s Court in April this year.
At the time, MP Weerawansa’s lawyer had informed the court that the Immigration officials at the airport had failed to arrest the MP the first time he arrived with an expired passport and had instead arrested him when he had arrived with a renewed passport.