A nephew of the Obeysekera family, giving evidence in the forged deed case, relating to their ancestral property, said before the Colombo High Court that after the funeral of his uncle, Fredrick Wimaladharma Obeysekera, the caretaker had claimed that the Rajagiriya property had been given to him.
The nephew of the owner of the property, Christopher Obeysekera, led by Senior State Counsel S. Thurairajah, gave evidence before High Court Judge Rohini Perera on Monday, November 1.
Giving evidence, the witness said that he came to know that the property, promised to him by his uncle, had been taken by Col. Sumedha Perera and caretaker Sarath Wijewardena and that the deed was made by Bandula Wijesinghe. The witness said that Col. Sumedha was not a relative of his uncle nor of the family.
During the evidence Mr. Obeysekara said that there were five members in his father's family and when he was 7-years-old, his father died. The witness said that he was looked after by his uncle, Fredrick Wimaladharma Obeyesekera, a bachelor and lived at Rajagiriya Walawwa. The witness had gone to Cambridge for further education and later became a lawyer. He said, from 1986 his uncle suffered from Parkinson's disease for 12 to 15 years and, later he had cancer.
The third accused in this case Sarath Wijewardena had served in the house. The witness said his uncle had said that the property would be given to him (witness) and Wijewardena also was aware of this.
The witness said that Obeysekara Walawwa was an ancestral property which was handed down from his grandfather to his father's generation to be given to their descendants.
The witness, Mr. Obeysekara said that his uncle died on July 2, 2001, while he was in England and he returned to perform the final rites.
After the funeral on July 13, the accused Sarath Wijewardena had informed him that his uncle's property had been given to him (Sarath Wijewardena) and the deed was written by Bandula Wijesinghe. According to the deed the property had been written to Col. Sumedha Perera and Sarath Wijewardena.
When this case was taken before Colombo High Court, Senior State Counsel S. Thurairajah, appearing for the Attorney General, made an application to include two more witnesses to the indictment.
The two new witnesses were Director, School of Science and Forensic Science, National Law University, Jodhpur, India, Prof. Dr. P. Chandra Sekharan and Attorney-at-Law Subramaniyam Parameshwaran of Manning House Scheme, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 8.
Appearing for the aggrieved party Counsel Desmond Fernando PC made an application to forward a report from well known international forensic expert for expert evidence. The Counsel made the application to get the opinion of Indian forensic expert Prof. Dr. P. Chandra Sekharan before the commencement of the trial. Court allowed the application.
The three accused, former Secretary of the BASL Bandula Wijesinghe and former military spokesman Colonel Sumedha Perera and former caretaker of the property, H.M. Sarath Wijewardena, are indicted with claiming, through forged documents, the well known philanthropist's land and ancestral home.
First accused, Attorney-at-Law Bandula Wijesinghe was charged with fraudulently certifying a forged document with false signatures and making a forged deed as a deed of gift for the land on No. 137, Rajagiriya Road, presented by Fredrick Wimaladharma Obeysekara on or around June 11, 2001. The other accused were charged with aiding and abetting the said offence. According to the complaint to the police, Colonel Perera together with caretaker Wijewardena had claimed ownership of the property after allegedly producing a Deed of Gift prepared by Attorney Wijesinghe.
