The first interim report was handed over to the President on December 20, 2019.

Then President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on September 21, 2019 to investigate into the suicide bomb attacks which took place on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019.

The five membered Commission is headed by its Chairman Janak de Silva Esquire Judge of the Court of Appeal. Nissanka Bandula Karunarathna Esquire Judge of the Court of Appeal, Nihal Sunil Rajapaksa Esquire Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal, Atapattu Liyanage Bandula Kumara Atapattu Esquire Retired Judge of the High Court, W.M.M. Adikari Retired Ministry Secretary have been appointed as the members of the Commission.

The Commission was ordered to submit interim reports once in two months, and to submit its final report including the findings of the Commission’s investigations and its recommendations, within six months of the Commission’s appointment.

The Commission is to provide recommendations regarding what action should be taken against those held responsible for having committed offenses and acts of wrongdoing relating to the subject of inquiry, and recommendations aimed at preventing the occurrence of such offenses and acts of wrongdoing in the future and on measures to be taken to prevent the possible damage to national security and national unity by acts of terrorism and extremism.

M.A.A.