• Fundamental Rights petition came up before the Supreme Court  three-judge-bench comprising Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Justice S.  Thurairaja and Justice Janak de Silva

The Attorney General’s Department yesterday informed Supreme Court that it would file limited objections against the fundamental Rights petition filed on behalf of 26-year-old poet Ahnaf Jazeem challenging his arrest and detention.  

Senior Deputy Solicitor General Nerin Pulle appearing for the Attorney General made these remarks when this Fundamental Rights petition came up before the Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Justice S. Thurairaja and Justice Janak de Silva.  

The Supreme Court directed the Attorney General to file their limited objections within two weeks.  
Meanwhile, President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Isvaran undertook to rectify several typographical errors in the petition.   The petition was re fixed for support on August 4.  

The Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) had arrested Ahnaf Jazeem under Prevention of Terrorism Act over an allegation that he had promoted extremism and violence in children and aided and abetted Muslim extremism through his literary work.  The petition has also sought an interim order to release Ahnaf Jazeem from detention.  
Poet Ahnaf Jazeem was arrested on the 16th May 2020 at his home in Chilavathurai.  Ahnaf Jazeem has been a writer of poems and short stories since his school-going days,   and had presented his poems to poetry competitions and had been awarded.  

The petitioner stated that the Poet, Ahnaf Jazeem did not, by way of his artistic writings, support or incite violence or promoted extremism, racism within sections of the Muslim community, but on the contrary, exactly opposed the same.  The petitioner states, to date Ahnaf Jazeem has been kept under illegal detention upon purported Detention Orders, without being produced before Court for over ten months.