SC dismisses petitions filed in favour of bill to abolish death penalty

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected three petitions filed in support of the private member's bill submitted to the Parliament seeking to abolish the death penalty.

The petitions filed by three parties, including Professor C. Gunaratna and lawyer Radhika Coomaraswamy, sought a court order declaring that the private member's bill submitted by Galle District Parliamentarian Bandulalal Bandarigoda and included in the Order Paper of Parliament does not violate the Constitution.

The petitions were taken for hearing before the three-judge bench comprising Justices L.T.B. Dehideniya, Murdu Fernando and Gamini Amarasekara.

The Petitioners point out that no clause in the proposal would violate the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the bill had been prepared in keeping with the Constitution.

The Petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to grant a ruling that the resolution of the MP could be passed by a simple majority of the Parliament.

The Attorney General has been named as the Respondent.

When the petition was taken up before the bench, the State Counsel appearing for the Attorney General informed the court that Parliament had already sought advice from the Attorney General on the basis of the proposal.

The State Counsel further pointed out that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear the proceedings in Parliament.

After considering the submissions, the three-member Supreme Court Bench decided to reject the petitions.