The Supreme Court has ruled that the emergency regulations declared nationwide under the Public Security Act by then Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 17, 2022, to control protesters during the Aragalaya, violated fundamental human rights.
The majority of the three-judge bench found that the emergency regulations issued under Section 2 of the Public Security Act were arbitrary and void. Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Justice Yasantha Kodagoda delivered the majority judgment. However, Justice Arjuna Obeysekera, while delivering his verdict, stated that the Acting President’s declaration of emergency did not violate fundamental human rights.
The petitions were filed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ambiga Sathkunanathan – a former commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the Liberal Youth Movement. The government was also ordered to pay the petitioners’ legal costs.
