(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Supreme Court has extended the overseas travel ban imposed on the Royal Park murder convict Jude Shramantha Jayamaha, who was on death row and later pardoned by former President Maithripala Sirisena.
The overseas travel ban was extended till the 1st of June 2020, according to a prominent online news portal in the island.
The three-judge bench consisting of Supreme Court Justices Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and Gamini Amarasekara delivered the order when the petition filed by the Women and Media Collective challenging the former President’s decision.
The petitioners were ordered to issue notices to the respondents named in the petition.
Representing the Attorney General, Deputy Solicitor General Nelin Pulle told the court that the Controller General of the Immigration & Emigration Department has submitted an affidavit with regard to the case.
As stated in the said affidavit, pardoned convict Jude Shramantha Jayamaha had travelled overseas on the 15th of November.
According to the information received, Jayamaha is currently staying in Singapore and extraditing him to Sri Lanka is legally possible, President’s Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena told the judge bench speaking on behalf of the petitioners.
Presenting submissions further, he said legal action can be taken against Jayamaha just as the extradition procedure of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, a key defendant in the Bond Scam case, is being carried out.
The three-judge bench subsequently fixed the petition for support on the 29th of May 2020.
The petitioners allege that former President’s decision to select and pardon only this individual out of the over thousand of convicts currently on death row, is completely unconstitutional. They have sought the Supreme Court to remand the pardoned murder convict again.
