"When Justice Steps In: The Supreme Court Breaks the Cycle of Ragging Impunity"

The Supreme Court (SC) intervention in granting leave to proceed with two fundamental petitions under case no SC/FR/101/2025 filed over the tragic ragging that resulted in the death of Charith Dilshan Dushantha, a second year student of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) and the ten interim orders imposed a damning indictment on the authorities who have allegedly failed to enforce anti-ragging laws and administrative guidelines.

- J.A.A.S.RANASINGHE

The SC held that the two petitioners, namely Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the parents of the victim had established a primafacie case suggesting a possible violation of Article 12(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection of the law.

What is to be emphasized here is not only the granting of leave but the severity of interim orders served on the 69 respondents until the final determination of the case calling for documentary evidence on the prerogative actions taken within the confines of the law assigned to them by the statutes. The two petitioners contend that the tragedy was not an isolated failure but the result of systematic negligence by university authorities, University Grant Commission (UGC), Vice Chancellors of the Universities, law enforcement officials and other relevant institutions.

For thousands of students, gaining admission to a university is a moment of triumph the result of years of hard work and perseverance sleepless nights, steadfast pursuit. They enter these seats of higher learnings with dreams of knowledge, growth and a future filled with promise and assurance. But the hard reality of the fact is these dreams had been mercilessly and brutally shattered by a handful of misguided youth, wellknowing the lackadaisical attitude and inaction by the authorities over the decades.