The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on Wednesday overturned a presidential pardon granted by former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to a close aide, Duminda Silva, who was convicted of murder, as reported by news agency PTI. The landmark decision by the top court was the first such case since the presidential form of governance was introduced in 1978.
In 2021, Rajapaksa pardoned a close political aide, Silva, who had been awarded the death penalty for murdering a local political rival from the same party in 2011, PTI reported. The presidential pardon was later challenged by the relatives of Silva’s victim, Bharata Lakshman Premachandra.
During the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Silva and Premachandra were vying for political supremacy in the Colombo suburb of Kolonnawa. According to PTI, Silva was convicted of gunning down Premachandra. He was pardoned by Rajapaksa, who succeeded Mahinda in 2019 as president.
On Wednesday, however, a three-member bench of the apex court stated that Rajapaksa had not given any reasons why he was pardoning Silva and that he had also failed to follow due process. Under Article 34 of the Constitution, Sri Lanka’s presidents are empowered to grant pardons, subject to a stipulated process.
Silva was originally convicted by the High Court, and it was later confirmed by the Supreme Court, as reported by PTI. After being pardoned, he was appointed by Rajapaksa to head the state housing authority.
In July 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to tender his resignation following the unprecedented economic turmoil in the island nation. Last year in December, Sri Lanka recorded positive growth for the first time in around two years since the massive economic crisis that gripped the island nation, news agency ANI reported, citing Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror.
According to the Census and Statistics Department, the Sri Lankan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2023 recorded a 1.6 per cent growth as compared to the same period a year ago.