The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has ruled that the continued detention of two Tamil-language books by Sri Lanka Customs violates the author’s fundamental rights, and has ordered the books released, the Daily Mirror reported.
The case was brought by author B. Piratheepan of Kilinochchi, whose consignment of 288 books printed in Chennai, India, was seized by customs officers on the claim that the publications could “damage national harmony”.
What was held, and what was released
The consignment comprised four titles: Ippothum Inge Irandu Thesangalthaan, Elluttal Nan Yuttam Ceykiren, Bayangaravaathi and Cyanide.
Two of them — Bayangaravaathi and Cyanide — were released after the Arts Council of Sri Lanka classified them as works of fiction. Customs maintained a detention order on the other two: 75 copies of Ippothum Inge Irandu Thesangalthaan and 147 copies of Elluttal Nan Yuttam Ceykiren.
No agency would own the decision
The inquiry was chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice L.T.B. Dehideniya. It found that multiple state bodies — Sri Lanka Customs, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs — passed responsibility between themselves without establishing which of them had jurisdiction.
The commission attributed the original seizure largely to a lack of Tamil language competence within state institutions, together with institutional alarm at a map on one of the book covers showing a divided Sri Lanka.
That finding is the substantive part of the ruling: on the commission’s account, officials detained books they could not read, and then no agency would take responsibility for the decision.
The legal findings
The commission held that Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression, and that this protection extends to ideas that are unorthodox, shocking or controversial, including those that may disturb the state or the public.
Citing Supreme Court jurisprudence, it found the respondents had failed to establish the thresholds of individual culpability, intent and causation required under Section 120 of the Penal Code. It also noted that criminal defamation was repealed in Sri Lanka in 2002, leaving customs no authority to seize books on the grounds of alleged defamatory statements about public officials or institutions.
Beyond free expression, the commission found the prolonged detention amounted to:
- unlawful discrimination based on language under Article 12(2)
- a breach of equality before the law under Article 12(1)
- an infringement of the author’s right to promote his culture and use his own language under Article 14(1)(f)
The order
The commission has directed the Director General of Sri Lanka Customs to release all detained copies of the two books immediately, and to submit a formal compliance report by 2 December 2026.
The complainant is represented by attorneys-at-law Nadarajar Kandeepan, Dr. Viranjan Herath and H. Thamilaval Kandeepan.
Sourcing note
This report rests on a single verified source. A search across verified Sri Lankan and Tamil newsrooms returned no other filing on the ruling at the time of writing. The search did surface earlier coverage of what appears to be the same author’s detained books, where the name is rendered Theepachelvan rather than B. Piratheepan; that earlier material could not be dated or retrieved for citation and is not relied on here, so the two accounts are not treated as confirmed to be the same case.
Not reported
The filing does not say when the books were seized or how long they have been held, which would establish what “prolonged” means in the commission’s finding. It does not report whether Customs has responded to the order or intends to comply, and carries no comment from Customs, either ministry, or the author. It does not say whether compensation was sought or awarded, and does not explain why the Arts Council’s fiction classification resolved two titles but not the other two.
Source: Daily Mirror.
