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SC bars ex-Peradeniya professor from future academic posts over sexual ...
The Supreme Court has directed that Prof. W. M. Thilakaratne, a former senior academic of the University of Peradeniya who was found guilty of multiple charges of sexual harassment by a university disciplinary inquiry, be barred from holding any future position in universities or academic institutions in Sri Lanka. The ruling was delivered on 08 May 2026 by a three-judge bench comprising Justices Janak De Silva, Achala Wengappuli, and K. Priyantha Fernando in SC/FR Application No. 81/2021. The Fundamental Rights petition had been filed by Dr. W.A.M. Udari L. Abeyasinghe, a Dental Surgeon and Senior Lecturer attached to the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dental Science, University of Peradeniya. According to the judgment, the incidents occurred while Dr. Abeyasinghe was serving as an Assistant Lecturer under the supervision of Prof. Thilakaratne, who was also her M.Phil co-supervisor. The Court noted that the petitioner’s mother lodged a complaint with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya on 02 July 2018, alleging sexual harassment and emotional abuse between July 2017 and April 2018. Following a preliminary investigation, the university appointed a Formal Inquiry Committee, which conducted hearings between July and September 2019. The Committee found Prof. Thilakaratne guilty of several charges, including cyber stalking, frequent hugging, touching despite objections, causing severe emotional distress, violating the university’s sexual harassment policy, and bringing the university into disrepute. However, the University Council later rejected the disciplinary findings, citing delays in the complaint being made, and decided not to take action against the professor. The petitioner subsequently complained to the University Grants Commission and later to the Human Rights Commission before filing the Fundamental Rights application before the Supreme Court in March 2021. The Court upheld a preliminary objection that the petition had been filed outside the constitutional time limit. Despite this, Justice Janak De Silva held that the Court retained powers under its “just and equitable jurisdiction” to issue directions in the public interest, particularly considering the seriousness of the findings against the professor. The judgment noted that Prof. Thilakaratne had never challenged or sought to invalidate the findings of the Formal Inquiry Committee. The Supreme Court subsequently ordered that Prof. Thilakaratne be prohibited from accepti...
Supreme Court orders action over harassment at Peradeniya University ...
The Senate of the University of Peradeniya must take immediate steps to prevent sexual harassment within the institution following a directive from the Supreme Court. Justice Janak de Silva delivered the judgment with the agreement of Justices Priyantha Fernando and Achala Wengappuli after a fundamental rights petition was filed by a female lecturer in Dentistry who alleged she was subjected to sexual and mental harassment.The petitioner stated that the harassment occurred around 2017 while she served as a lecturer on probation and pursued her postgraduate studies. The Supreme Court ordered that the first respondent, Professor W.M. Tilakaratne, be prohibited from accepting any paid or honorary position at any university or educational institution. Alongside Professor W.M. Tilakaratne, the Governing Council of the university and several others were named as respondents in the case.
Supreme Court's landmark intervention in sexual harassment case
Over seven years after making an initial complaint of sexual harassment against her research supervisor, Dr. Udari Abeyasinghe, then a temporary lecturer and now a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, has been finally served justice. On May 8, 2026, the Supreme Court made the following directions regarding Udari's fundamental rights case: "1) The […]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Bars Professor From Academia After University ...
Prof. W. M. Thilakaratne, former dean of the Faculty of Dental Sciences at the University of Peradeniya, now at the University of Malaya. Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has permanently barred him from any academic post in Sri Lanka after a university inquiry found him guilty of harassing a junior colleague.
