11/04/2025
This Puttalam Lady lawyer has Balls!!!
You can only see such an incident in movies!
But it has actually happened in our country - Sri Lanka 🇱🇰!
In order to ensure that justice does not get diluted, after many years, the doors of the court are kept open on a holiday.
For young lawyer Nadiha Abbas, March 28th 2025 started as a regular day.
She was busy handling the cases of the day at the Puttalam District Court.
It was then that the sensational news reached her ears.
The news was that her fellow lawyer Priyanka Udayangani had been detained at the Puttalam High Court to be sent to prison.
A stunned Nadiha rushed to the Puttalam High Court to inquire about the details.
The starting point of this dispute was in August last year.
At that time, the Puttalam High Court Judge Nadi Aparna was dissatisfied with the actions of lawyer Priyanka, who was appearing in a case. When the same case was taken up for hearing again in early March this year, the judge had made several allegations against the lawyer, citing previous incidents.
Subsequently, on March 28, Judge Nadi Aparna had filed a contempt of court case against lawyer Priyanka, alleging that she “did not show due respect to the judge” and “did not bow when entering the courtroom on the specified day.”
Based on this, Priyanka was arrested and ordered to produce two sureties along with a property certificate of Rs. 25 lakh as a bail condition.
Such a condition was practically impossible to fulfill within the court hours of that day.
This meant that Priyanka would have to spend at least the next 4 nights in jail, as that day was a Friday and the following Monday was a holiday. In the High Court, lawyer Nadiha, who had heard the situation, sought the help of the Puttalam Bar Association. Unfortunately, the Puttalam Bar Association refused to take the lead in this matter.
They knew very well that any action that challenged the High Court judge would affect the future cases they would face.
Everyone, including the Sinhala lawyers who came there, only expressed their sympathy for Priyanka and left, but no one came forward to defend her.
Their selfishness had completely paralyzed all three senses.
Time was moving fast. Nadiha had to make a quick choice between keeping quiet like everyone else to protect her own interests or fighting for justice.
Nadiha had stayed up until dawn the night before to observe the holy 27th day of the fast.
Nadiha, who had not drunk a drop of water all day and was physically exhausted, heard a divine verse ringing in her ears:
_O you who believe in God!
Stand firm for justice, even if it is against you or your parents or close relatives!"
With many men lurking like cats, Nadiha stood alone before the judge and began to argue.
“Your Honour, the defendant in this case is a long-serving lawyer of this court. Therefore, there is no chance of her avoiding the trial.
And there is no possibility of immediately fulfilling the bail conditions you have mentioned.
Therefore, either you should relax the bail conditions or give her time to fulfill them."
Such a reasonable argument is generally accepted by the courts.
But Judge Aparna rejected it in a single sentence and ordered that lawyer Priyanka be taken to jail.
She also issued additional orders to the jail authorities that no concessions should be given to Priyanka.
The judge's intention was very clear. Everyone was watching anxiously as lawyer Priyanka was taken to the jail vehicle.
Nadiha was also not going to rest.
She prepared a written report of the incident and made the injustice that had taken place public on the news. In it, she also expressed her feeling that justice had been abused.
It takes great courage to express such an opinion in writing about the order of the High Court judge. Even the slightest slip-up in this could ruin her legal profession.
As for Nadiha, she is not concerned with anything other than
"... stand on justice...".
The Bar Association headquarters, which received information from Nadiha, decided to challenge the decision in the Court of Appeal.
But there was a practical problem.
The court was on vacation until Monday. *Justice delayed is justice denied.*
Understanding the urgency, the Bar Association made a rare request.
That is, to hear this case urgently,
the Court of Appeal should be opened on Monday - a public holiday.
The request was accompanied by a warning that delaying this case would have a serious impact on the administration of justice in the country.
The result?
On Monday, 31st March, in a, historic turn of events, the Court of Appeal opened its doors for justice, despite it being a public holiday, on account of the Eid ul Fitr festival.
Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice, Mohamed Thahir Mohamed Laffar was present in court with Justice Fernando.
In a single phone call, the Attorney General’s Department had also sent its representatives there.
The Court of Appeal, which heard the case, not only issued an immediate order for Priyanka’s release,
but also ordered the parties involved, including Puttalam High Court Judge Aparna, to appear before the Court of Appeal for further proceedings at the end of April.
With the court order, the President of the Bar Association, Rajeeva, who personally rushed to Wariyapola, put an end to Priyanka’s unjust imprisonment.
This case is a landmark in the history of Sri Lankan law.
This incident shows that no matter how dire the situation, justice prevails when brave individuals stand firm.
Here, the crowning glory of all this is lawyer Nadiha Abbas.
She had chosen the voice of justice over selfish silence.
Only one voice was resounding in the crowd.