Sri Lanka Bar Association asks President to withdraw call for armed forces to maintain public order 

Mon, Feb 9, 2015, 12:58 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.


Feb 08, Colombo: The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has urged President Maithripala Sirisena to withdraw the renewal order calling the members of the armed forces under the provisions of Public Security Ordinance for active service to maintain public order.

The President, following a practice of the previous government, in an Extraordinary Gazette notification on February 02 called out the armed forces to provide security and maintain law and order in the country in the event the police cannot deal with a situation adequately.

The BASL, which says that there is no lawful justification to maintain the order, in a statement has urged the President to review the situation and cancel the recent extension under the Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance or to refrain from extending the Order when its validity period expires in three weeks' time. The Order needs to be renewed every month by a gazette notification.

The President, by virtue of the powers vested in him by Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance, is empowered to call out all the members of the Armed Forces for the maintenance of public order in specified areas of the country.

Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), a leftist party in Sri Lanka, has filed a fundamental rights violation petition in the Supreme Court against the President's order.