Retired Senior Professor and Anunayake Maha Thera Ven. Kotapitiye Rahula Thera has formally requested the Commissioner General of Prisons to allow Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera to retain his monastic robes and appear in them whenever he is moved outside his place of detention.
In a letter addressed to prison administration, Ven. Kotapitiye Rahula Thera, an Anunayake Maha Thera of the Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagridharma Maha Sangha Sabha, emphasized that the authority to alter or remove the robes of an ordained monk rests exclusively with the monk concerned and the Maha Sangha of the Maha Vihara lineage to which he belongs. While affirming that the Sangha Sabha fully respects the supremacy of the judiciary and raises no objection to the court ruling against Gnanasara Thera, he highlighted that monastic traditions require formal approval from the Mahanayake Thera or the governing Maha Sangha before robes can be removed.
According to Ven. Kotapitiye Rahula Thera, Gnanasara Thera has not been reported to the Sangha Sabha for committing a Parajika offence under the Vinaya Pitaka or any transgression severe enough to justify disrobing. The Anunayake Thera maintained that it remains the sole responsibility of the Sangha Sabha to carry out disciplinary inquiries regarding the retention of robes, urging correctional authorities to uphold the established custom of preserving a monk’s attire during detention and public appearances.
Key Developments
- Ven. Kotapitiye Rahula Thera appealed to the Commissioner General of Prisons to refrain from removing Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera’s robes, citing traditional Vinaya Pitaka disciplinary authority.
- Prison media spokesperson and Commissioner of Prisons (Operations) Senaka Pallegetenna confirmed that Gnanasara Thera’s robes were removed at Welikada Prison, where he was dressed in standard inmate attire and assigned a prisoner registration number.
- The Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary was arrested on an open warrant and committed to Welikada Prison following a Court of Appeal directive to implement his remaining six-year sentence for contempt of court, taking effect after the Supreme Court annulled a presidential pardon previously granted by former President Maithripala Sirisena.
The unfolding situation underscores a direct clash between monastic protocol and correctional regulations, as the Sangha Sabha asserts its jurisdiction over Buddhist ecclesiastical status while Welikada Prison authorities continue enforcing standardized inmate procedures.