By Yohan Perera   

Whilst questioning whether President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called for a report from the judges who condemned former MP Duminda Silva before granting him a pardon, the Colombo Law Society yesterday said pardoning prisoners without the required justification would deteriorate confidence of the general public in the system of Administration of Justice and ultimately would erode the Rule of Law.   

“Even though, Article 34(1) of the Constitution empowers the President to grant such a pardon, the proviso to Article 34(1) requires the President to call for a report from the Judge who tried the case where the offender has been condemned to death.   

Such a report is required to be forwarded to the Attorney General for advice and the report together with the Attorney General’s advice to be sent to the Minister in charge of the subject of Justice, who shall forward the report with his recommendation to the President.  The public has the right to know whether the provisions enunciated in the said Article 34 has been followed prior to granting of the pardon. The said discretion vested in the President must always be exercised judiciously. Such power must not be exercised arbitrarily and selectively.   
Our parent body the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has written to the President requesting him to make the public aware whether such a report, advice or recommendation does exist and if so whether they in fact recommended or did not recommend such a pardon for Duminda Silva,” the Colombo Law Society said.   

“The attention of the working committee of the Bar Association has been drawn to a pardon given by the President to Duminda Silva, a prisoner who was convicted for unlawful assembly and murder by a High Court at Bar, which was unanimously affirmed by a Divisional Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the then Chief Justice Hon. Priyasath Dep.   
The Colombo Law Society being the largest branch of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka shares the same stand. We state that if the provisions contained in Article 34 of the constitution are not followed by His Excellency the President the pardon granted to Duminda Silva would be unreasonable and arbitrary,” it added.   

• The public has the right to know whether the provisions enunciated in the said Article 34 has been followed prior to granting of the pardon