Sandya Eknaligoda files FR petition against Gnanasara Thera's presidential pardon

Sandya Eknaligoda, the wife of missing journalist - Prageeth Eknaligoda, has filed a fundamental rights petition against the decision to release Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera on a presidential pardon.

Ms. Eknaligoda, in her petition at the Supreme Court argued that granting presidential pardon to a suspect who has been convicted of contempt of court charges is unconstitutional.

At the time of his release, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Gnanasara Thero was serving a 19 years imprisonment term reduced to six years after he was found guilty over contempt of court.

Accordingly, she had sought a court order to declare the presidential pardon granted to the BBS General Secretary as null and void while holding that the fundamental rights established in the constitution had been violated as a result of this pardon.

The Attorney General, Justice Minister, President's Secretary, IGP Pujith Jayasundara, Acting IGP, and the Welikada Prisons Superintendent have been named as respondents to the petition.