SC declares Gotabaya’s 2020 detention order was unlawful

Wednesday, 19 March 2025 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

FR petition filed by Kanchana Priyadarshani Madurapperuma from Henagama over detention by Peliyagoda Special Investigation Unit in 2020 for alleged possession of heroin

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that a detention order issued by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2020 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was unlawful and violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices S. Thurairaja, A.H.M.D. Nawaz, and Mahinda Samayawardena delivered the verdict, ordering the State to compensate the petitioner with Rs. 100,000.

The ruling was in response to a Fundamental Rights petition filed by Kanchana Priyadarshani Madurapperuma, a resident of Pokunuwita, Henagama.

The Petitioner was arrested by the Peliyagoda Special Investigation Unit in 2020 for alleged possession of heroin. Her subsequent detention was authorised through two separate Detention Orders, one issued on 30 January 2020 under the Poisons, Opium, and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, No. 17 of 1929, and another on 6 February 2020 under the PTA.

The Court granted leave to proceed based on Articles 12, 13(1), and 13(2) of the Constitution.

It was revealed that then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had no authority to act as the Minister of Defence at the time material to this application as the 20th Amendment to the Constitution had not yet come into effect.

As such, the issuance of the Detention Order dated 6 February 2020 by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ultra vires the Constitution and therefore devoid of any legal validity.

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