“We ask the people not to tolerate this sin any longer.” Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Patali Champika Ranawaka stated.
He was speaking to the media when he appeared before the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry today (28).
Ranawaka stated that the country has gone bankrupt especially today as a result of a national robbery carried out after 2010.
The Court of Appeal has set a date to consider the writ petition filed by Ranil Wickremesinghe seeking the annulment of the recommendations made against him by the Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal today (28) directed that the petition be called on March 30.
The petition was taken up today before a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal comprising Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, Lafar Thahir and D.M. Samarakoon. The bench accepted the request of the lawyers representing the petitioners and directed them to convene the hearing on March 30.
In the petition, Wickremasinghe states that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge has issued several recommendations against him, claiming that he was responsible for several activities related to the Anti-Corruption Secretariat established during the Yahapalana government.
However, Wickremasinghe states that the Anti-Corruption Secretariat was not functioning under him when he was the Prime Minister and that he did not interfere in its affairs.
He pointed out that the Anti-Corruption Secretariat was established with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and was governed in accordance with the financial regulations accepted by the government.
Wickremasinghe has stated in the petition that the cases filed by various persons against the Secretariat were filed by recognized government agencies such as the Attorney General’s Department and the Bribery Commission and he did not interfere in his affairs in any way.
However, Wickremasinghe further stated in his petition that the Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge had issued several recommendations against him in an illegal manner without consulting him and that the Commission had not given him a fair hearing before making those recommendations.
Minister Johnston Fernando and three others have been acquitted in three cases filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption alleging that 153 CWE employees were used for political activities.
The cases were taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika C. Ragala today (28).
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed the case alleging that 153 CWE employees had been removed from their legal duties between 2010 and 2014 and used for political purposes making a loss to the government.
The Colombo High Court has ordered that the case against Rajitha Senaratne, the then Minister of Fisheries, and three other defendants, alleging that the government had incurred losses by leasing out the Modara fishing harbor to a private company between August 1, 2014, and November 1, 2014, to be called on the March 30th.
The case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe today (28).
The Bribery Commission handed over several documents pertaining to the case to the lawyers of the defendants and if there are any deficiencies, the lawyers representing Rajitha Senaratne and the defendants requested the court to give them a date to present their case before the court.
The High Court judge granted the request and directed that the case be taken up for hearing on March 30.
The other accused in the case is former chairman of the Fisheries Harbor Corporation Upali Liyanage and its managing director Nil Ravindra Munasinghe. The Bribery Commission has filed the indictment on five charges.
It is reported that a bus traveling from Salankanda to Hatton has fallen into a precipice this morning (28).
The accident took place in the Buttergala Estate area on the same road around 08.30 this morning, killing one person and injuring 16 others.
This was a private bus transporting employees from Salankanda to a private company in Hatton.
The bus was traveling at a high speed when the driver lost control and fell into a precipice of about 75 feet.
It is reported that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is preparing to convene a discussion with the Chairmen and CEOs of all public companies in Sri Lanka.
According to sources, a business council comprising of these leading businessmen will be formed in the near future.
It is hoped that this will enable the business community to present their problems directly to the President and seek solutions to boost the country’s export earnings and boost local industries, which will greatly contribute to the development of the country’s business sector.
Sources say that the bank accounts of Dhanuna Tillekeratne, the son-in-law of former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who was later acquitted of allegations that he had submitted forged documents to obtain tenders to supply goods to the Army, have been reactivated, sources said.
The allegations were made after Sarath Fonseka contested the Presidential election in 2010 and seven bank accounts belonging to Dhanuna Tilakaratne were frozen following a lawsuit filed in this regard.
Dhanuna Tilakaratne was acquitted of these charges in 2015 but the ban on the relevant bank accounts had not been lifted.
However, sources said that the bank accounts have been reactivated with the intervention of a strongman of the present government.
It is reported that Akila Ellawala, the Ratnapura District Parliamentarian of the SLPP has also been infected with the Covid-19.
Accordingly, 10 parliamentarians have been infected with the corona since the commencement of the new parliamentary session.
It is reported that former Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board Vijitha Herath is to be appointed to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of M.C.C. Ferdinando.
Vijitha Herath is an experienced is also an Engineer by profession who worked as the CEB Chairman before Ferdinando. He is currently the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.
Sources said that Piyadasa Kudabalage, a former CEO of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation is to be appointed as the Chairman of the corporation.
Piyadasa Kudabalage is an experienced person who served as the CEO of the Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka when the present Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath was the Chairman.
He and three others were indicted during the last Yahapalanaya government on charges of embezzlement of Litro Gas Company and were acquitted by the Special High Court in 2019 after a lengthy trial.
Piyadasa Kudabalage is currently the Group CEO of Laugfs.
There will be no power cuts until next Monday, said Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Rathnayake, speaking to media today (27), following a discussion held with a team including officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) this afternoon.
The PUCSL also noted that the public’s cooperation for crisis management would be important at this stage, given that a capacity of about 30 megawatts could drop tomorrow, despite the decision not to proceed with any power cuts until Monday.
Commission Chairman Rathnayake further stressed that state-run and private institutions have also been instructed to minimise the use of electricity and to pay attention to matters such as the reduction of using air conditioners during peak hours, avoiding the use of appliances that consume more power and turning off street lights.