The court allowed the challenge on the grounds that anti-torture provisions of the constitution may have been violated by the police and troops and fixed a formal hearing for November 28.

The three-judge bench granted "leave to proceed" in the case filed against the police and the state security apparatus for forcibly removing nearly 400 men, women and children last month as part of an anti-rebel campaign.

"The case is being taken up on the basis of article 11 and 12 which says that all are equal before the law and that no person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," a court official said.

The petition was filed by a lobby group called the Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The lobby group complained that hundreds of Tamils were dragged out in their night clothes by security forces and bused out of Colombo in a violation of basic rights.