The Court of Appeal today issued a writ order quashing the case filed against High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya in the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court on the instructions of the Attorney General. 

The court also issued another writ order quashing the Attorney General’s decision to name High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya as a suspect in the relevant case.

The order was issued by a judge bench comprising Justices Sobitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola, delivering the verdict in the writ petition filed by the High Court Judge. 

Following the incident involving former MP Ranjan Ramanayake’s controversial phone conversation audio recordings, the Attorney General had previously instructed the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) to make submissions to the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court and obtain a warrant to arrest High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya.

Accordingly, the CCD had reported facts to the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court against the High Court Judge while after considering the said information the magistrate had issued notice on the HC Judge to appear before the court. 

However, the High Court Judge had subsequently filed a writ petition seeking a court order declaring the charge sheet filed against him before the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court by the police and the notice issued by the magistrate as unlawful and to issue an order invalidating them.