• Police Department has erected permanent barricades in a manner that is violative of their and the citizens’ Fundamental Rights

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda   

Two civil activists yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights petition in Supreme Court seeking an order directing the police to take steps forthwith to remove all the permanent barricades and roadblocks placed in a harmful way to the citizens.   

Journalist Shenal Jayasekera and environmental scientist Hemantha Withanage filed this petition through senior counsel Ravindranath Dabare naming IGP Chandana Wickremaratne, Fort Police Station OIC, Kollupitiya Police Station OIC, Attorney General and several others as respondents.   

The petitioners are further seeking an order directing the IGP to formulate a comprehensive set of guidelines with regard to erecting roadblocks and impeding public access to roads.

The first petitioner states that in or around 24th of April 2022, at around 11.30 am whilst he was travelling to Galle Face from Fort Railway Station in a public bus for his work purposes, he was stopped near Lotus Road due to the several barricades been placed stopping all the vehicles and people from entering Lotus Road. He further states that, due to the inconvenience caused, he got down from the next halt and started walking towards Lotus Road in order to enter Galle Face where he witnessed a heavy presence of Police officers, several trucks belonging to Sri Lanka Police parked on the pavement and huge barricades across the road all the way to the pavement not allowing anyone to enter Lotus Road.

The petitioners are of the view that Police Department has erected permanent barricades in a manner that is violative of their and the citizens’ Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 11, 12(1), 12(2), 14(1)(a), 14(1)(b), 14(1)(c), 14(1)(g) and 14(1)(h) of the constitution.