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The Supreme Court charged him with professional misconduct for submitting documents containing disparaging remarks:
Previously, a lawyer was suspended for accessing and destroying a document in the Court of Appeal files:
The Supreme Court yesterday (17th) ordered the immediate remand of a suspended lawyer for alleged professional misconduct over contemptuous statements he had submitted in case-related documents.
The individual, WD Dharmasiri Karunaratne, had previously been suspended from practicing law for allegedly violating professional ethics by illegally obtaining and destroying documents from the Court of Appeal files, an incident that triggered further contempt charges.
The Attorney General was directed to expeditiously draft and file a contempt charge against the suspended lawyer.
The court scheduled further hearing of the case on August 28.
The apex court made these orders while hearing a case against the lawyer for professional misconduct.
The court took the decision after examining the documents filed by Karunaratne, which were said to contain disparaging remarks and criticism of the judiciary.
The case was heard by a bench of Justice Murdu Fernando, Justice S. Thurairaja and Justice Kumudini Wickramasinghe of the Supreme Court. The bench held that the documents filed by Karunaratne were offensive, disrespectful to the judiciary and undermined the dignity of the court.
Justice S. Thurairaja specifically pointed out that the lawyer’s actions amounted to contempt of court and stressed the need to take appropriate steps to address the conduct. Therefore, the court ordered that Karunaratne be remanded in remand immediately till the next date of hearing. Earlier, the man had faced charges from the Registrar of the Court of Appeal for illegally obtaining and destroying documents in the case file.
This led to a criminal case, which is currently being heard in the Maligakanda District Court. Another case against Karunaratne related to professional misconduct and the Supreme Court had suspended him from practicing law until the proceedings were concluded. The case was re-heard yesterday to continue the judicial process. Presidential Legal Counsel Maithri Gunaratne represented the suspended lawyer, while Deputy Attorney General Shanil Kularatne appeared for the Attorney General.
Nelka Medajdara
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