A Kandy-based lawyer has filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that the National Council for Disaster Management, the Cabinet of Ministers, and other high-ranking officials failed in their duties during the recent Cyclone Ditwah crisis, The Sunday Times reported.

K.M. Keerthi Bandara Kiridena, the petitioner, has named 37 respondents in the case, including the Attorney General, the President as head of the National Council for Disaster Management, and senior officials from the Disaster Management Centre, the Department of Irrigation, and the Department of Meteorology, alongside regional administrative and police heads.

Filed through attorney Sachintha Rodrigo, the petition details the significant personal loss suffered by Kiridena, whose office within the Kandy Lawyers Complex was devastated by floodwaters.

The disaster resulted in property damage exceeding Rs 800,000 and the destruction of a computer essential to his professional practice. The petitioner argues that his experience is part of a much broader failure of governance, noting that the cyclone affected two million people across all 25 districts, displaced over 230,000 citizens, and damaged approximately 100,000 homes nationwide.