When the Gown Meets the Badge: Courtroom Drama Turns Talk of the Town

Mount Lavinia — It’s not every day that a courtroom itself becomes the crime scene. But last week, the country’s legal circles and gossip columns found common ground when Attorney-at-Law Gunaratne Wanninayake was dragged into controversy over what police called an “obscene performance” at the Mount Lavinia Courts.

The charge? Section 287 of the Penal Code — usually reserved for street performers and drunks — was suddenly pinned on a senior lawyer accused of singing obscene songs.

The response? Outrage, laughter, disbelief, and a storm of WhatsApp forwards.

 The Scene Everyone’s Talking About

Eyewitnesses say it started like any other Friday. Two lawyers, Wanninayake and his junior Sanjeewa Anthony, had just finished their cases. Then came words — sharp ones — exchanged with a police officer inside the court premises. Within minutes, the argument turned physical, and before long, a B-report thicker than a law textbook appeared, charging the lawyer under five different Penal Code sections.

By Monday, special police teams were searching Galle Road, as if Colombo was hosting a manhunt for a mafia boss instead of a man in a black gown.

 Bar vs. Badge

In court, President’s Counsel Upul Jayasuriya thundered that the entire episode was a “misapplication of the law”.

“This is not a clash between lawyers and police — it’s about the dignity of our profession,” he declared, drawing murmurs from the gallery.

The Bar Association too weighed in, reminding everyone that both lawyers and police “operate within the same system” — and that system had just managed to publicly embarrass itself.

But perhaps the line of the day came from the Magistrate himself:

“The lawyers must make their standpoint clear,” he said firmly, signalling that the Bar can’t simply hide behind robes when the heat is on.

Colombo Can’t Stop Talking

From Hulftsdorp chambers to Colombo cafés, everyone’s dissecting the drama.

Was this a lawyer’s ego gone rogue?

Or a police instinct gone too far?

Either way, it’s become the new talk of the town — a legal soap opera where every side claims to defend “dignity.”

Some say it exposes a deeper truth — that in Sri Lanka’s justice system, instinct often wins over procedure. Others just joke that the only thing truly obscene was the B-report itself.

The Verdict (for Now)

After all the arguments, Magistrate Pasan Amarasena granted bail — two sureties of Rs. 500,000 each — and warned Wanninayake not to tamper with witnesses. The next hearing is set for November 17, but the court of public opinion is already in full session.

 The Bottom Line

Every profession has its instincts — lawyers argue, police enforce. But when both do it inside the same courtroom, the sparks fly high enough to light up Colombo’s gossip networks.

And so, as one witty barrister put it over lunch:

“Obscene songs? No, my dear — this was just the oldest duet in town: law vs. law enforcement.”