Court orders fresh trial in Raviraj murder case, overturns 2016 acquittal

2026-03-27 - 05:33

Nadarajah Raviraj The Court of Appeal has ordered a fresh trial into the 2006 murder of former TNA MP Nadaraja Raviraj, setting aside the Colombo High Court judgment that cleared five accused, including three Navy intelligence officers. The Court of Appeal has directed the High Court to begin a new trial into the killing of former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian Nadaraja Raviraj. The appellate court also set aside the earlier Colombo High Court judgment that acquitted five defendants linked to the case. The judgment was delivered by a bench made up of Justice Sasi Mahendran and Justice Amal Ranaraja. The order came after the Attorney General filed an appeal challenging the Colombo High Court decision to free the accused. Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath appeared for the Attorney General. On December 23, 2016, the Colombo High Court acquitted and released five accused in the case, including three Navy intelligence officers, after a jury found them not guilty. In its ruling, the Court of Appeal pointed to serious concerns about how that verdict was delivered. The court noted that the High Court judgment had been delivered at 12:50 a.m. on December 23, 2016, and described that timing as highly unusual. It also held that the trial judge had failed to properly guide the jury on the evidence given by Prosecution Witness No. 1, who was an accomplice. Justice Sasi Mahendran said that, after analysing the evidence of the accomplice witness, there was enough material to establish the case against the accused. Raviraj, who represented the Jaffna District in Parliament for the TNA, was shot by unidentified gunmen near his residence in Manning Town, Narahenpita, while driving along Martha Road as he left for work in Colombo. He died in hospital on November 10, 2006. One of his guards, Sergeant Lakshman Lokuwella, was also killed in the attack. Raviraj was a lawyer by profession and ran his own legal practice, Raviraj and Associates. He was also a former mayor of Jaffna and a native of Chavakachcheri in the Thenmaratchy area of Jaffna. He first entered local government as a councilor of the Jaffna Municipal Council in 1997. He was elected to Parliament of Sri Lanka for the first time from the Jaffna District at the 2001 General Election and was re-elected in 2004. His killing took place within a year of the murder of veteran Eastern Province Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham.