A Fundamental Rights petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the government’s actions regarding the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SLUDI) programme, which is being funded through a grant from the Government of India. The petition seeks to prevent the government from proceeding with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with India on the project.
The petitioner, Lina Amani Rishard Hamid, a member of the executive committee of the voluntary organisation, The Nationalist, has named the President in his capacity as Minister of Digital Economy, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet of Ministers, and several other officials as respondents.
In the petition, Hamid argues that the government’s decisions regarding the SLUDI project represent a severe breach of Sri Lanka’s Constitution, data sovereignty, national security, and public finance laws. Specifically, she contends that the government has amended the original MoU with India in a clandestine manner, without informing Parliament or the public, to allow Indian authorities to control Sri Lanka’s digital identity infrastructure.
The petitioner alleges that two Cabinet decisions—taken on January 27 and June 2, 2025—approved substantial amendments to the MoU, granting India control over critical technical components of the project, including the Master System Integrator (MSI) and biometric database software (MOSIP).
Hamid claims that these amendments compromise Sri Lanka’s data sovereignty, economic independence, and national security by outsourcing sensitive biometric data and identity systems to foreign contractors. She argues that the SLUDI program effectively cedes control of Sri Lanka’s digital identity infrastructure to India, undermining the country’s sovereignty over its own citizen data.
The petitioner also highlighted that Sri Lankan institutions had already developed a fully functional e-NIC system, having invested over Rs. 5.5 billion and completed more than 80% of its implementation. Despite the system being ready for deployment with minimal additional funding, the government allegedly sidelined the e-NIC project in favor of the SLUDI initiative.
The petition further claims that the government’s actions violate several articles of the Sri Lankan Constitution, including Articles 1, 3, 4, 12, 14A, and 157, by surrendering sovereign powers to a foreign entity without parliamentary approval. The petitioner argues that the government has acted in secrecy by failing to disclose the amended MoU to Parliament and the public, thus breaching the principles of transparency and accountability.
The petition is being filed through Attorney-at-Law H.M. Thillakarathna and will be supported by Senior Counsel Canishka Witharana.