The petitioners in the Fundamental Rights petitions filed today challenging the legality of the presidential pardon granted to former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva informed the Supreme Court that they are expecting to personally name former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as a respondent in the petitions.
President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran, appearing for Hirunika Premachandra, the daughter of slain former MP Bharatha Premachandra, informed court that the petitioner is expecting to amend the caption of the petition in order to add former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as a respondent since he was no longer holding the post of President.
Having considered the facts, the Supreme Court’s two-judge bench, comprised of Justice Gamini Amarasekara and Justice Janak de Silva, fixed the petitions to be taken up for inquiry on November 24.
Former Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra, her mother Sumana Premachandra, and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ghazali Hussain had filed these petitions seeking a declaration that the presidential pardon of Duminda Silva is invalid in law.
On May 31, the Supreme Court issued an interim order directing the CID to immediately place Duminda Silva in prison custody of prisons.In addition, the court issued an interim order impounding Duminda Silva’s passport. The Court has already granted leave to proceed with these applications in terms of Article 12(1) of the Constitution.
