Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has announced that the presentation of the Anti-Terrorism Bill to Parliament will be postponed due to requests made by several groups, including opposition political parties.

The move by the government to replace the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (ACT) with the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act came under severe criticism from many groups.

Many parties said the proposed legislation undermined democracy, human rights and individual freedom,

Rajapakshe added that the Bill is expected to be presented to Parliament by the end of April or the first week of May. Earlier, the BAR Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) had urged the Government to delay presenting the Bill to Parliament, stating that it had been Gazetted without adequate discussions with relevant parties.