Pushpika gets crown back

The Mount Lavinia District Court has ordered that the Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 title be reinstated to Pushpika de Silva, following a legal dispute after the crown was stripped from her in 2022. The ruling, delivered on Thursday, follows a case filed by de Silva challenging the decision to remove her title.

de Silva’s crown was initially revoked in 2022 after she alleged that corruption had prevented her from winning the global Mrs. World competition held in the United States that same year.

Local pageant organisers at the time claimed her statements had tarnished Sri Lanka’s international reputation, leading to her disqualification and barring her from using the title for any promotional activities.

However, the Court’s ruling on Thursday has overturned this decision, with local organisers now retracting their previous statement. The organisers acknowledged that de Silva is the rightful titleholder for the year 2021.

As part of the Court’s order, organisers have been instructed to remove any official social media announcements about de Silva’s disqualification within 24 hours and to publicly acknowledge her as the legitimate Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021. 

Additionally, the Court has mandated that Chandimal Jayasinghe, a key figure in the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant, hold a press conference within 14 days to formally declare that the title and crown belong to de Silva, pledging no further interference.