• The Supreme Court can exercise its fundamental rights jurisdiction to scrutinize the acts and omissions of the President

 By Lakmal Sooriyagoda   

The application made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe that he be discharged from the proceedings in connection with the twelve Fundamental Rights petitions filed over Easter Sunday attacks should be dismissed by Supreme Court, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said.  

Tendering written submissions before Supreme Court, Colombo Archbishop yesterday maintained that President Ranil Wickremesinghe cannot be necessarily discharged from these proceedings.  

President Ranil Wicremesinghe had been made a party to a Fundamental Rights petition filed by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka as the 8th Respondent, for the various acts or omissions which resulted in the violation of Fundamental Rights, whilst he had been serving in his capacity as the Prime Minister who functioned at the stage at which the Easter Attacks had taken place on 21st April 2019.  

Archbishop of Colombo, who represents the most aggrieved party of the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks had been named as the 57th respondent.  

In his written submissions, the Colombo Archbishop stated that the jurisdiction granted by Article 126 was introduced for the first time through the 19th Amendment and such jurisdiction has been thereafter preserved by the Legislature under the 20th Amendment as well. Therefore by the said Article 35 (1), the Supreme Court can exercise its fundamental rights jurisdiction to scrutinize the acts and omissions of the President.  

Colombo Archbishop further submitted that discharging President Wickremesinghe from these proceedings would also directly contravene with the Articles 7 and 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  
Colombo Archbishop was represented by Shammil Perera PC.