Case Reference/File No	[1983] 2 SriLR 461
Case Name	Mariyadas Raj v. Attorney-General and another
Court	Supreme Court
Date of judgement	7th Feb 1983
Judges	Sharvananda J Ranasinghe J Rodrigo J
Parties	Petitioner Mariyadas Raj Vs Respondents 1st respondent – The Attorney-General 2nd respondent – Nihal Karunaratne, Inspector of Police, Chilaw
Keywords	Fundamental Rights under Article 11 and 13(1) of the Constitution – failure to inform reason of arrest
Head note
Brief facts	The petitioner, a citizen of India, came to Sri Lanka on 10.11.1982 on a Sri Lankan visa and he was on 13.11.1982 arrested and assaulted and was taken to the Chilaw Police Station. He was not informed the reason for such arrest. Later on 13.11.1982 he was produced before the Acting Magistrate and was remanded until he was discharged on 3.12.1982. The court allowed the application and held that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed under Article 13(1) of the Constitution has been violated.
Judicial Precedence	The Court held that the law is solicitous for the freedom of individuals and that Article 13 (1) of the Constitution provides “unequivocally and in no uncertain terms” that a person who is arrested shall be informed of the reasons for such arrest. The Court also paid attention to the fact that the petitioner is a foreigner and held that he is entitled to seek relief as Articles 11 and 13(1) of the Constitution apply to all persons, not only to citizens. The court held that Article 13(1) establishes a vital and fundamental rule for ensuring the personal liberty in all legal systems where the Rule of Law prevails in order to “provide the earliest opportunity to the arrested person to remove any mistake, misapprehension or misunderstanding in the mind of the arresting official and disabuse his mind of the suspicion which actuated the arrest”.
Legislation Title	The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1978
Area	Article 11 and 13(1) of the Constitution