October 11, Colombo (LNW): The Colombo District Court has issued a ruling in a long-running defamation case brought by former Cabinet Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, determining that a public statement made against him by trade unionist Ranjan Jayalal was entirely without merit.
The judgment, delivered yesterday (10), concluded that Jayalal — who served as General Secretary of the Ceylon Electricity Workers’ Union at the time of the incident — had made demonstrably false allegations against Ranawaka during his tenure as Minister of Power and Energy.
The court subsequently ordered Jayalal to pay compensation of one million rupees for the harm caused to the former minister’s reputation.
The case centred around comments made by Jayalal suggesting that Ranawaka had inappropriately used public resources for personal benefit, including the alleged transportation of a luxury bed, valued at Rs. 80,000, from Colombo to a Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) circuit bungalow in Kataragama. These claims, now officially discredited by the court, were found to have no factual basis.
Speaking after the ruling, Ranawaka welcomed the verdict but emphasised that the issue at stake went beyond financial restitution. “I have no intention of accepting this compensation,” he said, addressing media representatives. “What matters is accountability. The leadership of the group that made these false claims should instead return the vast sums they have allegedly extorted from CEB employees over the years.”
He further criticised what he described as a pattern of political mudslinging designed to tarnish reputations without evidence, calling for greater responsibility in public discourse.
