Court directs CID to identify individuals who defamed Appeal Court Judge on social media

 Colombo Chief Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali today issued an order directing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to identify and produce before court the individuals responsible for disseminating defamatory, false and hateful statements against Court of Appeal Judge Shashi Mahendran via social media platforms.

 

The order was made following submissions by the CID’s Cyber Crimes Division, acting on a complaint lodged by Judge Mahendran regarding defamatory posts circulated on Facebook targeting both him personally and the Court of Appeal as an institution. 

 

The CID informed court that investigations are underway into the publication of racially charged and false content on social media, falsely alleging that Judge Mahendran had issued an order to release an individual named Pillayan, who had been charged in connection with the assassination of former Member of Parliament Joseph Pararajasingham.

 

Further, the CID reported that the judge’s photograph had been unlawfully used in these posts, and that Judge Mahendran had provided a formal statement clarifying that he had never presided over such a case nor issued any such order. He confirmed that the content circulated online was entirely fabricated.

 

Having considered the submissions, the Chief Magistrate permitted the CID to obtain detailed reports from Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, to assist in tracing the perpetrators.