Supreme Court deems Duminda Silva’s presidential pardon invalid

The Supreme Court has declared former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to grant presidential pardon to former MP Duminda Silva, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, as invalid.

The relevant court order was issued by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court when several petitions filed by the late Premachandra’s wife and daughter, Sumana and Hirunika Premachandra and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Attorney-at-Law Ghazali Hussain, was taken up in court this morning  (17 Jan.).

The judge bench was presided over by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and consisted Justices Gamini Amarasekara and Arjuna Obeysekara.

Thus, the Commissioner General of Prisons was instructed by the Supreme Court to take the relevant measures necessary so as to impose the impending sentence against Duminda Silva, adding that former President Gotabaya had failed to follow the proper legal procedure when granting the said amnesty.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered the Commissioner General of Prisons to take steps to implement the sentence previously imposed on this petitioner.