Court extends interim injunction on film “Usaviya Nihadai”

The Colombo District Court has extended the interim injunction issued against the screening of ‘Usaviya Nihadai’ (Silence in the Courts), a documentary film by award winning film director Prasanna Vithanage.

The Colombo District Court issued the order, when a petition filed against the film by former Magistrate Lenin Ratnayake was taken up for hearing today.

The petitioner has stated that the film is based on a false news report which claims that he had sexually assaulted a woman and that the movie was scheduled to be screened at theaters starting from October 6.

Therefore the former magistrate requested the court to issue an order preventing the screening of the film as it would cause defame to him and the country’s judicial system. 

After considering the fact presented, the district court initially issued the interim injunction on October 5. 

The 57-minute documentary, screened last week at the India International Centre, Delhi, is based on the incident in June 1996 where a sitting Judicial Magistrate had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman. The case will be taken up for hearing again tomorrow (20).