The Supreme Court on November 16, 2009, granted leave to proceed with the fundamental rights violation application of a youth, who had complained that the Army had taken him into custody, due to a discrepancy in his National Identity Card.

The Army had arrested him on March 25th, 2009 at a checkpoint at Dematagoda and handed him over to the police, who had produced him before a Magistrate.

The Commissioner General of Registration of Persons, had told the youth’s mother that the police could not prosecute anyone in respect of discrepancies in NICs without his approval. He had explained that there could be discrepancies in the issue of ID cards at times.

The petitioner is 27-year-old Dayan Dharmala Senaratne.

The respondents are the Officer-in-Charge of Minor Offenses of the Dematagoda Police, the IGP, the Commissioner General of Registration of Persons and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.

The petitioner had said that at the time of the arrest he was not told as to why he was taken in. The mother had found out about the discrepancy in the ID Card, while the boy was in remand custody. The boy had been subsequently released on bail by the Magistrate.

The Supreme Court Bench comprised, Justice N. G. Amaratunga, Justice P. A. Ratnayake and Justice Chandra Ekanayake.