The Supreme Court has ruled that a detention order issued by then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) against a woman arrested for alleged drug possession in 2020 was unlawful.

The court ordered the State to pay Rs. 100,000 in compensation to the petitioner for violating her fundamental rights. The judgment was delivered today (18) by Justice S. Thurairajah, with Justices Mahinda Samayawardena and A.H.M.D. Nawaz concurring.

The petitioner, Kanchana Priyadarshani Madurapperuma from Pokunuwita, Henagama, was arrested alongside her brother by the Peliyagoda Special Investigation Unit on 30 January 2020. She was initially detained under Section 82(3) of the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act for seven days before being further held under a detention order issued by Gotabaya Rajapaksa under the PTA.

In her petition, she argued that the detention order was unlawful as Rajapaksa was not acting as the Minister of Defence when it was issued. The Supreme Court upheld this argument, ruling that under Section 9(1) of the PTA, only the Minister of Defence has the authority to issue such orders.

Justice Thurairajah highlighted that the 20th Amendment, which allowed the President to serve as Minister of Defence, came into effect only on 29 October 2020. At the time of the petitioner’s detention, the 19th Amendment was in force, which did not grant the President this power.

The court found that the detention order violated the petitioner’s fundamental rights under Articles 12(1), 13(1), and 13(2) of the Constitution. However, as Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not named as a private respondent in the case, compensation could not be recovered from him directly. Instead, the State was ordered to pay the petitioner Rs. 100,000.