Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled to Maldives. Thousands of protesters have occupied the house of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. Now there is a possibility of public occupancy on the Parliament building as well. In such a situation, once again emergency has been imposed in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has given the army and police a free hand to deal with the protesters and maintain peace in the country. That is, now the rights of the country's army and police have increased and that of the public has decreased.
Under Article 155 of the Sri Lankan Constitution, the President has the authority to declare emergency. Since the President has fled the country in Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister has been made the Acting President. He has declared emergency this time. In the Public Safety Ordinance (PSO) of 1947, there is a legal process for imposing such an emergency.
We have not yet received the detailed notification of the Emergency that came into force in Sri Lanka today, but on the basis of the Emergency that came into force on 6 May 2022, these are some of the major provisions...
During emergency, all the powers come to the President. If the President wishes, he can appoint a minister, who will look after his business.
The President can appoint a commissioner to ensure that essential goods and services continue to run throughout the country. The commissioner is the assistant commissioner and the chain goes on till the bottom.
During emergency, the police or army officer has the right to search anyone's house without any warrant. Apart from this, any person can be taken into custody without informing the court for 14 days.
During emergency, the fundamental rights of citizens are suspended in the name of national security and law and order. The Constitution of Sri Lanka has given five fundamental rights to the citizens.
In emergency, no person can give false speech or spread rumours. That is, freedom of speech is also banned.
Anyone who tries to hold a meeting, damage any public property is punished according to the emergency rules.
If the answer to that question is written in the cover image of this story. Will people protesting in Sri Lanka be shot now? The answer is no. Security forces do not have the right to shoot anyone during an emergency, unless the President makes a separate provision.
Emergency thrice in the last 4 months
1. Thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against power cuts and rising inflation in Sri Lanka. To suppress this protest, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed emergency on 1 April 2022. It was withdrawn five days later.
2. In the first week of May also, the protesters in Sri Lanka turned violent and started demanding the resignation of the President. On the midnight of 6 May 2022, the President once again declared emergency. It was withdrawn on 22 May.
3. The President of Sri Lanka has fled. In such a situation, the Prime Minister, as the acting President of the country, announced the imposition of emergency in Sri Lanka on 13 July 2022.
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