SC nullifies Presidential Pardon granted to Duminda Silva

• Finds Presidential Pardon granted by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had not adhered to proper legal procedures 
• Determines that therefore amnesty granted to former MP Duminda Silva is illegal and invalid 
• Instructs Commissioner General of Prisons to undertake necessary measures to enforce prison sentence imposed on Silva

In a historic decision, marking a precedent in Sri Lanka’s legal history, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Presidential Pardon granted to former MP Duminda Silva by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was deemed invalid. This signifies the first instance in which a court has nullified a Presidential Pardon in Sri Lanka.

The decision was delivered by a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and consisted of Justices Gamini Amarasekara and Arjuna Obeysekara.

Former MP Duminda Silva, a major political ally of the Rajapaksa regime was convicted on 8 September 2016 by the High Court, along with four others, for the 2011 murder of politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. The High Court imposed the death sentence on all five individuals, a decision later affirmed by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court.

In the wake of his electoral triumph in 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa established a Presidential Commission to probe instances of political victimisation which subsequently advocated for the release of Silva, resulting in a special pardon exclusively granted to him in June 2021.

At the time, the United Nations and human rights groups criticised Rajapaksa’s decision to pardon a convicted murderer, warning it undermines the rule of law.

The pardon was later challenged by way of three Fundamental Rights petitions filed by Sumana Premachandra, Hirunika Premachandra, and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ghazali Hussain.

Silva was re-arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during the hearings in May 2023 after the Supreme Court granted leave to proceed with the case against him and suspended the special Presidential Pardon.

Delivering the final verdict yesterday the Apex Court found that former President Rajapaksa had failed to adhere to the proper legal procedures in granting the special Presidential Pardon thus making it illegal and invalid. The Supreme Court accordingly instructed the Commissioner General of Prisons to undertake the necessary measures to enforce the sentence imposed on Duminda Silva by the court.