Colombo, Oct 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday rejected two fundamental rights petitions seeking to invalidate a pact signed between Sri Lanka and India for the implementation of a digital identity card project in the island nation.

A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena accepted preliminary objections raised by the Attorney General, stating that the petitions could not proceed further.  The petition filed by opposition politician Wimal Weerawansa claimed that his fundamental rights had been violated by the government's refusal to make the project subject to parliamentary scrutiny or a public debate.

He also argued that the exposure of Sri Lankans’ data to foreign entities posed a threat to national security.

The bench decided not to examine the petitions regarding the digital identity card project, and dismissed them.

The MoU for the project was signed in 2022. PTI CORR ZH ZH

Preliminary objections block fundamental rights challenge to India-funded digital ID pact amid scrutiny and data security concerns. Petitioners argued that the 2022 memorandum of understanding for a foreign-supported digital identity project violated fundamental rights by avoiding parliamentary scrutiny and risking exposure of personal data to foreign entities; the Attorney General raised procedural preliminary objections, which the court accepted, preventing the petitions from proceeding to merits and leaving unadjudicated the substantive claims about parliamentary oversight and data-security risks.