Supreme Court finds Fowzie violated fundamental rights over Dutch-donated vehicle, orders Rs. 6.6 million and public apology
Regarding A. H. M. Fowzie
What happened?
On 29 September 2026 a three-judge Supreme Court bench (Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Janak de Silva and Arjuna Obeyesekere) ruled on a petition by Chandra Jayaratne, finding that Fowzie's use of a luxury vehicle donated by the Netherlands to the Disaster Management Centre, valued at about Rs. 19.5 million, for personal purposes between 2010 and 2015 violated Article 12(1) of the Constitution. He was ordered to pay Rs. 1,664,334.93 to the Consolidated Fund within one month and the balance, reported as Rs. 5 million in exemplary compensation, within two months (about Rs. 6.6 million in total), and to publish an apology with a photograph of the vehicle in Silumina, Sunday Observer and Thinakaran.
What changed?
This is a civil, constitutional ruling in a separate proceeding: it is not a criminal conviction and carries no custodial sentence. It does not change Fowzie's 2024 suspended-sentence conviction in the CIABOC case over a different vehicle, and his custody status is unchanged.
What happens next?
29 October 2026: Payment of Rs. 1,664,334.93 and the newspaper apology are due within one month of the judgment; the balance within two months. Compliance has not yet been reported.
The case
People involved
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