Court orders lawyers to appear in Kapila Chandrasena death inquest only if summons issued

Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena directed President's Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne and Attorney-at-Law Udara Muhandiram today (29) to appear in court to provide evidence regarding the mysterious death of former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena only if they receive a court summons.

The two lawyers, listed as witnesses number 19 and 20 in the inquest, were scheduled to give evidence today.

When the case was called, Bar Association President Rajeev Amarasuriya appeared on behalf of the Bar Association and stated that he requested the court to consider whether it is necessary for these two lawyers to provide evidence regarding this inquest under Section 370/5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.

Further submissions by the Bar Association President revealed that a lawyer bears a responsibility to maintain client confidentiality during professional duties according to the Evidence Ordinance and the Supreme Court Rules Enactment. He added that Section 126 of the Evidence Ordinance stipulates that a lawyer must protect confidentiality during professional duties, and questioned the court regarding the necessity of obtaining evidence from the deceased's lawyer when the inquiry is conducted solely to find the cause of Kapila Chandrasena's death.

The Bar Association President also noted that Section 370/5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act places a responsibility on the magistrate to consider whether a witness is relevant to the inquiry or not.

Consequently, the Magistrate questioned the Colombo Crimes Division regarding the reason they decided to obtain evidence from witnesses 19 and 20 for this inquest.

An officer appearing for the Colombo Crimes Division stated that Kapila Chandrasena secured bail for a case at the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court on 5 May 2025, where the President's Counsel acted as the lawyer for Kapila Chandrasena regarding the granting of bail.

The Colombo Crimes Division further informed the court that Kapila faced another arrest by the Bribery Commission due to an incident that occurred during the granting of bail for this case, and a group including former cricketer Aravinda de Silva visited this lawyer to seek legal advice regarding the matter.

The Colombo Crimes Division also informed the court that a telephone conversation took place between Kapila Chandrasena and President's Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne through the mobile phone of Aravinda de Silva's wife, and a statement was given to the police regarding this.

The Colombo Crimes Division further informed the court that these witnesses are named as numbers 19 and 20 to provide evidence regarding that telephone conversation.

The case was postponed until the 2nd of next month to deliver the order regarding the request made on behalf of the Bar Association by its President concerning witnesses 19 and 20 in this incident.