SC urged to dismiss petition filed against reducing EPF interest rate

President’s Counsel K. Kanageeswaran, who appeared for the Central Bank Governor and the Finance Board requested the Supreme Court yesterday (10) to dismiss the Fundamental Rights Petition filed against the reduction of the interest paid to the money invested by Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) on treasury bills and bonds to 9%. The President’s Counsel made this request presenting preliminary objections to the petition filed by Chaturanga Abeysinghe, a financial analyst, was called before the Supreme Court Bench of Judges Vijith Malalgoda, Gamini Amarasekara and Janak de Silva.

Counsel Kanageeswaran mentioned that the decisions regarding the EPF related to Domestic Debt Optimisation have been approved by the Cabinet and also approved by the Finance Committee of the Parliament. He said that the EPF is under the purview of the Central Bank Finance Board.

He mentioned that Sri Lanka once again had to seek the support of the International Monetary Fund because the country was facing a serious economic crisis.The President’s Counsel pointed out that the relief requested by the petitioner could not be granted as the matter was under the powers of the Parliament.

President’s Counsel M.A.Sumanthiran appearing on behalf of the petitioner argued that there were several Court rulings that mentioned that the Supreme Court could intervene in matters that had attracted the attention of Parliament. He argued that the Court had the ability to intervene in a resolution or an Act of Parliament that has a strong impact on the public.

After considering these facts, the Bench decided to consider them further today (11). The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the Finance Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and its members, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Attorney General and others are named as respondents in the petition.

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