SC deems detention order issued by President Gotabaya in 2020 unlawful

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a detention order, issued by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), in connection with a 2020 heroin possession case, was unlawful.

The verdict follows a fundamental rights petition filed by a woman from Henagama, Pokunuwita, who was arrested by the Peliyagoda Special Investigation Unit over the incident.

Additionally, the Court ordered the government to pay Rs. 100,000 in compensation to the petitioner for the violation of her fundamental rights.

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

A s such, the issuance of the Detention Order, dated 06th February 2020, by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is ultra vires the Constitution and therefore devoid of any legal validity.

By AJA Abeynayake