SC Issues Notice On Sirisena, Ranil in Case Challenging Gender‑Change Procedures

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Supreme Court has ordered that notices be issued to former Presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe in connection with a fundamental rights petition challenging the legality of government programmes and circulars that allow individuals to change their gender identity through medical procedures without a biological basis.

The Court also directed that notice be issued to the Attorney General on behalf of the current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The petition was filed by Shantha Jayathilaka, a retired Sri Lanka Air Force veteran, who argues that successive governments, including the present administration, have facilitated gender changes through medical procedures in a manner that violates the law.

The petition was taken up before a three‑judge Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena, Justice Shiran Gunaratne, and Justice Achala Wengappuli.

The bench ordered that notices should be served on the respondents within a week, and the petition is scheduled to be heard on 20 July.

In his petition, Jayathilaka contends that Sri Lankan law does not permit any person to change their sex from male to female or female to male through medical surgery without a biological basis. 

However, he alleges that individuals have been permitted to change their gender identity based on a recommendation from a psychiatrist, under guidelines issued in 2016 by the then Director General of Health Services.

He further claims that the government has been issuing new birth certificates and national identity cards to persons who undergo such gender‑transition procedures, arguing that this practice is entirely unlawful.

Jayathilaka alleges that previous governments, along with the current administration, have supported programmes enabling individuals to undergo gender transitions in violation of the law. He also argues that such changes pave the way for same‑sex marriages, which he claims are illegal in Sri Lanka.

The petitioner points to a recent Supreme Court ruling which, according to him, emphasizes that determining gender based on personal preference without a referendum is unlawful.

He further alleges that by enabling what he describes as unlawful gender‑transition procedures, the respondents have violated fundamental human rights.

Accordingly, he requests the Supreme Court to issue an order nullifying all circulars and government programmes that permit individuals to change their gender identity through surgery without a biological basis.

The respondents named in the petition include former Presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Attorney General on behalf of the current President, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, the Director General of Health Services, and several others.