A motion was filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on Tuesday (12) seeking an order prohibiting Former Finance Ministers Mahinda Rajapaksa & Basil Rajapaksa, and Former Central Bank Governors Ajith Nivard Cabraal & Professor W. D. Lakshman, from traveling overseas.
This motion has been submitted in relation to a fundamental rights petition filed by Chandra Jayaratne, the former president of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce, requesting that an investigation be ordered against the people responsible for the current economic crisis.
It is stated in the motion that the fundamental rights petition filed requesting an order to conduct an investigation against the people responsible for the current economic crisis is scheduled to be called before the Supreme Court on the 27th of July.
The application requests for an order to be made against Former Finance Ministers Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, and Former Central Bank Governors Ajith Nivard Cabral and Professor W. D. Lakshman, and Former Secretary of the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle, preventing them from traveling overseas without the permission of the court.
The motion noted that due to the current situation in the country, the President who is also a respondent in the FR application is away from the public eye, and there is an attempt being made by other respondents to leave the country.
Therefore, the motion seeks an order against Former Finance Ministers Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, Former Central Bank Governors Ajith Nivard Cabral and Professor W. D. Lakshman, and Former Secretary of the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle, preventing them from traveling overseas without the permission of the court.
On the 17th of June, Transparency International Sri Lanka along with 3 individuals filed a petition (SC/FRA/212/2022) in the public interest calling for action against persons responsible for the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
The case was taken up for support for leave to proceed on the 1st of July. During the session, counsel appearing on behalf of two of the respondents requested Court to take up the petition along with another petition (SCFR 195/2022) which was similar in nature. Court thereafter directed the matter to the Chief Justice to consider this request. After consideration, the case was to be taken up for support on the 27th of July.
The petition by TISL, Chandra Jayaratne, Jehan CanagaRetna, and Julian Bolling claims that the respondents named in the petition are directly responsible for the unsustainability of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, its hard default on foreign loan repayments, and the current state of the economy of Sri Lanka.
The petition calls for the respondents to be held accountable for their illegal, arbitrary, and unreasonable acts or omissions which culminated in the current economic crisis.
Source: News 1st