A Three-member bench headed by Hon. Chief Justice hears case against Indian-backed identity framework
COLOMBO – A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Hon. Chief Justice,on Wednesday, August 27, took up SC/FR/166/25, a fundamental rights petition filed on July 30, 2025 by Ms. Lina Amani Rishard Hamid, an LLB undergraduate and the youngest citizen ever to petition the country’s highest court.
The case challenges the government’s decision to place Sri Lanka’s electronic national identity system under an arrangement backed by the Government of India. The petition argues this move undermines sovereignty, compromises national security, and violates the people’s constitutional rights. It stresses that Sri Lanka’s e-NIC, already more than 80 percent complete with local expertise, could be rolled out immediately as a domestic solution. Instead, the government has chosen to tie it to a foreign-backed framework.
The petition names 28 Respondents, including the President, the Prime Minister, the full Cabinet of Ministers, the Secretary to the Cabinet, several ministry secretaries, the Commissioner General of Registration of Persons, and the Attorney General.
During today’s hearing, the Attorney General’s Department admitted it had received notice but said the President, Prime Minister, and other respondents had not yet been served. The Hon. Chief Justice directed the Attorney General to issue notice to all respondents without delay. The case has been fixed for further hearing on October 17, 2025.
Represented by Attorney-at-Law Kanishka Vitharana and supported by The Nationalist organization, Ms. Hamid has asked for an interim order to block further steps until the Court rules on constitutionality.
Speaking after the hearing, she said: “This is not about me. This fight is for the sovereignty of 22 million Sri Lankans. Our identity must remain in our own hands, not under the control of another government.”
