A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the bill presented to Parliament by the government seeking to revoke the privileges of former Presidents, Ada Derana reporter said.

The petition has been submitted by Renuka Perera, the Administrative Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

The Attorney General has been named as the respondent in the petition.

The petitioner states that the government submitted the proposed bill to Parliament on August 7 with the intention of revoking the privileges legally entitled to former Presidents.

The petition points out that Clauses 1 to 4 of the proposed bill violate the doctrine of separation of powers, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Furthermore, it is alleged that several clauses of the bill infringe upon the sovereignty of the people and the independence of the nation, both of which are also protected under the Constitution.

The petitioner claims that, as a whole, the provisions of the proposed bill violate the fundamental framework of the Constitution.

Through the petition, it is argued that the proposed legislation directly violates the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 1, 3, 4, and 12(1) of the Constitution.

Accordingly, the petitioner requests the Supreme Court to issue a determination stating that the contested provisions of the bill can only be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and must also be approved through a public referendum.

The Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill, which seeks to repeal the Presidents’ Entitlements Act, was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara on August 7.

On July 31, the Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill was gazetted. The bill was drafted to revoke special privileges extended to former Presidents and their widows.

Earlier in July, the Cabinet of Minister also granted approval to the proposal to gazette and present in Parliament the draft bill formulated to amend the Presidents Entitlements Act (No. 4 of 1986).