The Supreme Court today directed the lawyers of the petitioners to issue notices to Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Cabinet members and other respondents named in the petitions challenging the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with India to implement a digital identity card project for Sri Lankan citizens.
The petitions, filed by former Minister Wimal Weerawansa and several others, were taken up before a bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Justice Kumuduni Wickramasinghe and Justice Sampath Wijeratne.
Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne, appearing for the Attorney General, informed court that the respondents, including Cabinet members, had not yet received notice. Following this, the bench instructed the petitioners’ counsel to reissue notices and fixed the case for October 17.
The President, Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Minister of Digital Economy have been named as respondents.
The petitioners argue that the MoU with India, signed in 2022, and subsequent Cabinet decisions taken on January 27 and June 2 to amend it, were made without informing Parliament or the public. They claim that the deal allows biometric and other sensitive data of Sri Lankan citizens to be transferred to India, threatening national security, sovereignty, and economic independence.
The petition further alleges that awarding the project to an Indian company, while the Department of Registration of Persons was preparing a domestic digital ID system, was arbitrary and unlawful, violating fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
Accordingly, the petitioners have sought an order to annul the MoU and the related Cabinet decisions, and to prevent the implementation of the project.
