Columns

The recent revelations surrounding the misuse of the presidential pardon have sent shockwaves across Sri Lanka, laying bare the deep institutional rot festering within the Prisons Department. A tradition intended to offer mercy and redemption has instead turned into a symbol of systemic abuse, corruption, and alarming dysfunction.

What transpired this Vesak day was not merely an administrative blunder—it was a calculated act that exploited the highest discretionary power vested in the Head of State. It has forced the country to confront an uncomfortable truth: that the Sri Lankan prison system, long plagued by corruption and inefficiency, is now in the throes of a full-blown credibility crisis.  

A pardon gone rogue

As is customary, the President granted pardons to selected prisoners on Vesak. Fortunately SJB Parliamentarian Ajith P. Perera disclosed to the legislature that one of the beneficiaries had been convicted just days before receiving a pardon. The sheer audacity of this revelation shook public confidence in the entire process.

Initially, the Department of Prisons attempted to deflect criticism, asserting that the individual had qualified under the criteria set for Vesak pardons. But the story unravelled further the next day when the Government clarified that the individual was not among those approved by the President. The shock deepened when the Cabinet acted swiftly to suspend the Commissioner General of Prisons, who was subsequently arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

This chain of events raises a deeply unsettling question: How can a person who was not on the President’s official pardon list walk free from prison under the guise of a Presidential directive?

Systemic failure or abuse of power?

The response by Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, representing the State in court, added a troubling layer to the scandal. He confirmed that this was not an isolated incident. Previous pardons, he noted, had also been extended to individuals not officially cleared by the President. He even cited statistics to suggest this pattern had occurred more than once, highlighting that this was not merely an aberration but a systemic flaw.

ASG Dileepa Peiris told the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that further investigations had revealed additional instances of inmates being illegally released under the guise of Presidential pardons.

According to ASG Peiris, 57 prisoners were wrongfully released during the 2024 Christmas and 11 more during the 2025 Independence Day, despite not meeting the required conditions.

He further noted that during the Vesak Poya, 338 inmates were released from 29 prisons across the country, and at least two of them were freed illegally

The implications are staggering. It appears that Presidential pardons—a tool meant to be used judiciously—have been manipulated at the administrative level. Either this is a blatant abuse of power by certain officials or an indictment of the systemic collapse of safeguards within the prisons and executive apparatus.

Either way, this is more than a case of bureaucratic misconduct. It is a serious breach of democratic accountability and rule of law.

The criminal nexus behind bars

This scandal did not arise in a vacuum. Over the past few years, there have been growing concerns that notorious criminals continue to run rackets from within prison walls. Murders, drug trafficking, and extortion rings are being orchestrated by prisoners using mobile phones and loyal operatives on the outside.

While occasional crackdowns have uncovered mobile phones, SIM cards, and narcotics within prison premises, these are merely the tip of the iceberg. The degree of coordination and control some prisoners exercise over external criminal operations points to deep complicity within the prison administration.

The Vesak pardon scandal only confirms what many have suspected all along: that there are elements within the Prisons Department who are not just negligent, but actively colluding with criminal networks. How else can one explain the calculated and fraudulent release of a freshly convicted prisoner?

An institutional rot that goes deep

What makes this incident so dangerous is not just the breach of procedure, but the impunity with which it was carried out. The fact that a prison official felt emboldened enough to release a person not cleared by the President suggests a complete erosion of internal checks and balances. It reveals a toxic institutional culture, where illegal orders can be executed under the guise of Presidential authority and escape scrutiny—unless exposed by a whistleblower or Opposition MP.

This cannot be dismissed as a one-off scandal. It is a crisis of governance and a collapse of oversight in one of the most sensitive arms of the justice system.

Time for full-scale prison reform

What Sri Lanka needs is not just an inquiry or a few arrests. The Vesak pardon fiasco must be the catalyst for a full-scale reform of the Prisons Department.

A comprehensive reform package should include:

1.   Digitization and Centralization of Records

All presidential pardons and prisoner release data must be centralized, digitized, and subject to real-time oversight by the Ministry of Justice and the Presidential Secretariat. No manual process should have the power to override the official list.

2.   Independent Prison Oversight Authority

Establish an independent oversight body with powers to inspect prisons unannounced, audit administrative decisions, and investigate misconduct. This body must report directly to Parliament, not the Prisons Department.

3.   Anti-Corruption Units within Prisons

Create dedicated internal anti-corruption units within prisons, staffed with trained officers not from the Department but deputed from the CID or Bribery Commission.

4.   Strict Technology Monitoring

Introduce jamming systems, AI-based surveillance, and routine digital sweeps to eliminate communication devices used by prisoners. Prison intelligence must be upgraded to prevent the operation of criminal networks from within.

5.   Merit-Based Appointments and Transfers

The prison service should be overhauled with merit-based recruitment and promotions. Political interference and bribe-facilitated appointments must be rooted out. A transparent transfer system must be enforced to break regional mafias.

6.   Public Reporting and Whistleblower Protection

There must be a mandatory system for public reporting of pardons, prisoner releases, and major incidents. Whistleblowers within the Prisons Department must be protected under the law and incentivized to come forward.

The President’s office must bear responsibility too

While the Prisons Department is rightly under scrutiny, the President’s Office cannot wash its hands of responsibility. The very fact that an unauthorized name could be slipped into the pardon list without immediate detection points to a lack of due diligence and post-approval audit mechanisms at the highest level.

Going forward, all Presidential pardons must be published in the public domain, with names, conviction details, and dates. Transparency is the only antidote to impunity.

Conclusion: A moment of reckoning

The Vesak pardon scandal has laid bare what many Sri Lankans have long feared—that even the most sacred powers of the presidency are not immune from abuse. It has revealed a prisons system compromised by criminal infiltration, corruption, and institutional decay.

But it has also given the Government a historic opportunity: to clean house, restore faith in the justice system, and build a modern, accountable, and corruption-free prison system. Anything less would be a betrayal of public trust—and a free pass for more criminals to walk out through the backdoor of impunity.

The Government’s Clean Sri Lanka campaign must now be extended to and transform the Prisons into Clean Prisons.

This is no longer just a prison issue. It is a national crisis of governance. And it demands nothing short of a national response.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)