Duminda Silva goes back to prison 

• Silva taken into custody from Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital 
• SC directed Silva be returned to custody of Commissioner General of Prisons until final determination of FR cases filed challenging pardon

Former MP Duminda Silva was taken into custody yesterday while he was receiving treatment at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital in keeping with the directive from the Supreme Court which suspended the Presidential pardon granted to him last year.

The SC directed that Silva be returned to the custody of the Commissioner General of Prisons until the final determination is made in relation to the Fundamental Rights petitions challenging his premature release while serving a death sentence murder of fellow politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra in 2011.

The SC issued the interim order suspending the Presidential pardon granted to Silva on Tuesday, following which, Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) informing him of the SC’s interim orders which also included an order preventing Duminda Silva from leaving the country and impounding his passport.

The AG informed the IGP that the interim orders be enforced through the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The SC ruling came after preliminary hearings into three FR petitions filed by the daughter of the deceased Hirunika Premachandra, her mother Sumana Premachandra, and attorney Ghazali Hussain PC. The next hearing will begin on 1 September.

Duminda Silva was granted a Presidential pardon last June by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa while he was on death row having been convicted for the 2011 killing of Premachandra.

He was appointed as the Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority following his pardon.