President's Counsel Shavindra Fernando has requested the Attorney General's Coordinating Officer Attorney Nishara Jayaratne to be named as a witness who acted in contempt of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter Sunday attacks.

The President's Counsel made the request when Attorney-at-Law Nishara Jayaratne was summoned to give evidence before the Commission yesterday (17).

Jayaratne was summoned before the commission to record a statement with regard to a letter sent by the Attorney General's Department to the Criminal Investigations Department on the investigations over the Easter Sunday attacks. Fernando PC appeared in the commission for Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Azard Navavi.

President's Counsel Shavindra Fernando made the request, alleging that Jayaratne was evading questions while giving evidence before the Commission.

The Commission, in response, strongly advised the Attorney General's Coordinating Officer over evading questions.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing the aggrieved parties in the Mahara incident have also lodged a complaint with Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya alleging that Attorney-at-Law Nishara Jayaratne had violated legal ethics during the process of reporting to the court on the Mahara prison clash.

The complaint states that when the case was taken to court on 16-12-2020, Jayaratne acted in a manner that was detrimental to her professional dignity referring to the lawyers representing the aggrieved parties as "NGO fellows".

the lawyers who represented the aggrieved party were acting as NGOs and the lawyer acted in a manner that was detrimental to her professional dignity.

The Attorney General's Coordinating Officer, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, will reappear before the commission on Monday the 21st.