The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) will hold a Special General Meeting of its entire membership on Sunday (15 February) in Colombo, marking the first such meeting in 14 years, BASL President Rajeev Amarasuriya said.
Addressing a special media briefing on Saturday (14 February), Amarasuriya said the meeting has been called in response to the fatal shooting of an Attorney-at-Law and his spouse in Akuregoda.
He said the Executive Committee of the BASL met earlier in the day to discuss the incident, but noted that the matter affects the entire legal community and should not be decided solely by the Executive Committee.
“This is an incident that affects the entire legal community. This is not something that should be decided only by our Executive Committee. Therefore, we have decided to call a Special General Meeting of all members of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka tomorrow at 3.00 p.m. The next steps of the BASL will be decided at that meeting,” he said.
Amarasuriya further said that the last time such a meeting was convened was in 2012 during the impeachment proceedings against former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
“After 14 years, we are calling this meeting again,” he said.
The Special General Meeting is scheduled to be held at 3.00 p.m. on Sunday at the Dr. H.W. Jayawardena QC Auditorium at the BASL Secretariat in Colombo.
The meeting follows the fatal shooting of Attorney-at-Law Buddhika Mallawarachchi and his wife, who were killed inside their vehicle at a supermarket car park in Akuregoda on 13 February. Police investigations into the incident are ongoing, with multiple special teams deployed to identify and arrest the suspects involved. (Newswire)