The Court of Appeal today ordered to recall the warrant issued to arrest the Chairman of Selectors at Sri Lanka Cricket, Upul Tharanga related to a case filed on match-fixing.
The warrant was initially issued over the former cricketer’s failure to appear before the court pertaining to a case Upul Tharanga himself had filed concerning the Legends League cricket tournament held in Kandy.
On October 08, the Matale High Court issued an arrest warrant after Upul Tharanga failed to appear in court in connection with the match-fixing case. It was reported that Tharanga was unable to attend the hearing, as he was in the United States participating in a franchise cricket tournament.
Following this development, on October 16, the Court of Appeal issued an order suspending the arrest warrant previously issued by the Matale High Court against Upul Tharanga. In its order, the Court of Appeal instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) not to enforce the warrant issued by the Matale High Court.
Upul Tharanga appeared before the Court of Appeal in person today, during which the court was informed that he had attempted to inform his unavailability for the case fixed for hearing on October 08 at the Matale High Court.
The court was informed that Tharanga had taken all steps from October 01 to inform the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Officer of his unavailability for the hearing on October 08, after which he was not informed of any issue prior to his departure from the country.
Screenshots of the call records had also been placed before the Court of Appeal, which was further informed that only on October 07 Upul Tharanga had been informed by the SIU Officer that the court may find fault with him and to retain a lawyer, despite having already informed the SIU in writing of his absence.
The court was further informed that the prosecution who had used the documents submitted by Upul Tharanga to the SIU had moved the Matale High Court for a warrant for him to be arrested at the airport.
Commenting that the Petitioner had cooperated continuously, the Court of Appeal observed that seeking to arrest him at the airport was unreasonable.
Having been given an undertaking that Upul Tharanga would attend the hearing at the Matale High Court on January 15, 2025, the Court of Appeal ordered to invalidate the warrant by recalling the warrant issued on Upul Tharanga on October 08.
Counsel Nishan Sydney Premathiratne AAL appeared with Attorneys Shenali Dias and Vikum Jayasinghe on the instructions of Gamindu Karunasena for the Petitioner, Upul Tharanga, while DSG Manohara Jayasinghe, AAL appeared for the State. (Newswire)