SC extends travel ban on Mahinda and Basil

President’s Counsel Chandaka Jayasundara said before the Supreme Court that “The people did not know anything about the country going bankrupt, while the authorities knew it since May 2019 and they did nothing to prevent it.”

He said that politicians including former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and officials including former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral knew that the country will be bankrupt in 2022, in 2019 and it is not clear which of them is responsible for this crisis.

“This is a huge crime under the financial laws and the constitution,” he added.

He said this when the Fundamental Rights petitions filed seeking an order to conduct an investigation against the people responsible for bankrupting the country and the public were taken up before the Supreme Court yesterday.

Meanwhile, an Interim Order which was issued preventing former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country without the permission of the Court was yesterday extended until August 4 by the Supreme Court.

The pledge was made by former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Artigala and former Central Bank Governor W. D. Lakshman stating that they will not go abroad to the Supreme Court through their lawyers was also extended to be effective till that date.

The petitions were taken up before the Supreme Court Five-Judge-Bench comprising Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and L.T.B Dehideniya.

When the petitions were taken up yesterday, President’s Counsel Naveen Marapana appearing for the respondents, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapkasa, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa informed the court that he intend to file preliminary objections over the petitions.

The Bench allowed him to make objections after presenting the submissions regarding the petitions.

Following that, President’s Counsel Chandaka Jayasundara appearing for the petitioners made submissions over the petitions stating that according to the position of these petitioners, the authorities after 2019 are responsible for this economic crisis, adding that even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned that the country’s domestic and foreign debt repayment capacity was at a unsustainable level by 2019.

But according to the decisions made later, despite the warnings of even IMF that the country is going bankrupt, the then Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral acted arbitrarily.

The President’s Counsel highlighted that they even ignored the warnings given by the Central Bank’s Finance Board in that regard.

He pointed out that although some respondents tried to point out the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason, it was not the proper reason, the only reason for this economic crisis was that the authorities who were responsible at that time did not take the necessary steps and did things that should not have been done. Therefore, these respondents are responsible for the present situation in the country.

He also pointed out that due to the reckless actions and decisions of the respondents, the living conditions of the people of this country have collapsed and the economy has collapsed.

He pointed out that the main reason for this crisis was the giving of some huge tax reductions and abolishment in 2019 and 2020, depriving the government of revenue.

He also mentioned that when the country’s ability to pay debts was becoming unsustainable, the respondents did not work to improve it until the economic collapse.

Also, the President’s Counsel said that this economic collapse was the main reason for not going to the IMF at that time when the country was facing these matters.

Former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who was the Finance Minister at that time, refused to go to the IMF, even when scholars, intellectuals and even the Central Bank Finance Board said that we should go to the IMF in February 2022, he said.

He also pointed out that they knew that the economy would go bankrupt at least five months ago, but they did not inform the people of the country about it, and they did not take any steps to protect it.

He also mentioned that although the people of the country did not know that the country was collapsing, the respondents, who were well aware of it, did not take the necessary steps to recover.

The President’s Counsel said that the Government of this country was deprived of the income due to both tax reductions and abolishment.

He mentioned that there was no effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. He pointed out that the IMF provided relief to the countries affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, but Sri Lanka lost it.

He pointed out that due to the provision of these tax concessions, whether there was Covid-19 or not, the state income decreased by 5%.

He said that giving these tax concessions was done because of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election policy and not because of awareness or investigation or study of the possible results.

Former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa admitted in his Budget speech that the Foreign Reserves were gradually decreasing. He presents a different method to earn foreign exchange. He presents the foreign exchange earnings in two clauses in the entire budget speech. That means leasing our water, energy etc.

“He has no choice but to sell our resources. We sold half of our gold last December. He is not acting responsibly as a responsible authority and is selling our country’s resources,” he said.

He said that due to filing these petitions, their irresponsible actions are being revealed.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was waiting silently for all this to happen, finally Addressed the Nation and announced that now we are going to the IMF. We are happy to at least apologise to the nation being honest, he added.

He made lengthy submission over the petitions and the petitions will be taken up again on August 3.

The petition was filed by former Chamber of Commerce Chairman Chandra Jayaratne, swimming champion Julian Bowling, Jehan Kanegaratne and Transparency International Sri Lanka.

The Petition has cited the Attorney General on behalf of the President, former Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, current Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Governors of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Dr. W.D Lakshman, former Ministers of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, Ali Sabry, former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S.R. Artigala, President of the Bar Association of Ceylon Saliya Peiris PC and 13 others as the respondents.

The petitioners allege that the country is currently in a state of bankruptcy and the people are in dire straits due to the unwise economic policies and inefficient administration pursued by the respondents.

The petition alleges that this has made it difficult for the people to access essential services such as fuel, electricity, food and medicine.

The petition states that due to this situation, Sri Lanka has been listed as a country that cannot repay foreign loans and this has brought more disrepute to the country internationally.

The petition points out that the tax concessions granted unnecessarily by the respondents in 2019 were one of the reasons for this economic crisis.

The petitioners also allege that the failure to seek the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the right time during the economic crisis has led to such a crisis in the country.

The petition has sought a declaration that the respondents have violated the fundamental human rights of the public. Also, the petitioners request the Supreme Court to issue an order to conduct an immediate investigation into the matters pointed out in this petition.

The petition also sought an order directing the several respondents to appoint a Committee under the supervision of the Court to compile a report on the financial irregularities and mismanagement of the economy in relation to the specific cases outlined in the petition.

Also, the petition has requested that the cabinet decisions taken regarding the financial matters, the documents exchanged between the respondents be submitted to the Court.

President’s Counsel Chandaka Jayasundara, S.A. Beiling, Chinthaka Fernando, Sayuri Liyansuriya and Manisha Dissanayake appeared on the advice of Upendra Gunasekara for the petitioners.