Supreme Court rules 2022 emergency declaration by Ranil unconstitutional

Thursday, 24 July 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Former President

Ranil Wickremesinghe

The Supreme Court has ruled that the State of Emergency declared in 2022 by then Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was unconstitutional and violated fundamental human rights.

In a majority decision of the three-judge bench, including Chief Justice Murdu Fernando and Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, it held that the emergency regulations issued under Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance were arbitrary and invalid.

The regulations had been enacted to control mass protests during the height of the Aragalaya movement. The Court determined that the imposition of emergency law disproportionately curtailed basic freedoms.

Several petitioners, including former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Ambika Satkunanathan, filed the petitions challenging the validity of Emergency Regulation No. 1 of 2022, which was published in the Gazette Extraordinary dated 17 July 2022.

However, Justice Arjuna Obeysekera, dissenting, ruled that the regulations did not infringe on fundamental rights.

The Court also ordered the Government to pay legal costs to the petitioners.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.