The Constitutional Council (CC) yesterday (03) unanimously approved the appointment of Senior Deputy Auditor General L.S.I. Jayaratne to the position of Auditor General of Sri Lanka.

Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne chaired the CC meeting. During a dispute between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the CC, the latter rejected a proposal that Jayaratne be appointed as Acting Auditor General; it said the appointment should be on a permanent basis.

President Dissanayake previously nominated three outsiders for the post of Auditor General but in vain.

Rajeev Amarasuriya has been re-elected, uncontested for a further term as President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for 2026 / 2027. He will formally be inducted at the 52nd Bar Association of Sri Lanka Convocation, scheduled for 28th March 2026.

Former BASL Treasurer Nalin Chandika de Silva was elected, also uncontested, as the new Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for 2026 / 2027, and will take over from incumbent Secretary Chathura Galhena who completes his two-year term, at the Association’s 2026 Convocation.

These results were officially declared by the Returning Officer, Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne, PC.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament yesterday that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has commenced an investigation into the 2020 sugar scam.

He said the probe had been initially handled by the CID, which sought the Attorney General’s instructions on further proceedings. Acting on those instructions, the CID referred the matter to CIABOC for further investigation. The findings so far have been handed over to CIABOC, and the Commission was now conducting inquiries, the Minister said.

Wijepala was responding to a question raised by Badulla District SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri, who asked what action the incumbent government had taken to identify those responsible for the sugar scam.

“There were files of documents in the possession of Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe on this scam, and your party pledged to take action against those responsible. What action has been taken so far,” Wijesiri asked.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development, UDN Jayaweera, said the government at the time had reduced the Special Commodity Levy on sugar to 25 cents per kilogram by Gazette Extraordinary No. 2197/12 dated October 13, 2020. The reduction came into effect on October 14, 2020.

He said the decision was taken in line with instructions issued by the then Secretary to the President, conveyed in a letter dated October 13, 2020, to the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance to reduce taxes on four commodities — sugar, lentils, canned fish and big onions — with a view to easing the cost of living.

Asked to name the companies that had imported sugar after the tax reduction, the Deputy Minister said the importers included Pyramid Wilmar Company, Peliyagoda Trading Company, AMRO Sugar, Global Trading Company, Vincent Trading Company, RG Brothers, Woodland and Company, Cargills Food Company, and VD Holdings and Commodities.

Jayaweera said that, according to an Auditor General’s report dated March 23, 2022, a total of 336,949 metric tonnes of sugar had been imported between October 14, 2020 and February 28, 2021 under the reduced tax regime. Of this, 277,715 metric tonnes were white sugar and 59,234 metric tonnes were brown sugar. The revenue loss to the Government due to the tax reduction was estimated at Rs. 16.76 billion.

Following an inquiry, the Committee on Public Finance on June 21, 2022 instructed the Chief Accounting Officer of the Ministry of Finance to conduct a probe into the scam with the assistance of the CID. Accordingly, the Finance Ministry lodged a complaint with the CID through the IGP on July 12, 2022.

The CID on January 2, 2025 sought the assistance of the Auditor General to carry out a forensic audit into the matter. The Auditor General, in a communication dated March 7, 2025, informed the CID that it had no legal provision to record statements from certain stakeholders and advised that such statements should be recorded by the CID. Meanwhile, the Inland Revenue Department has been directed to assess the profits earned by the importers and recover losses from them, the Deputy Minister said.

Minister Wijepala added that the CID had subsequently sought further instructions from the Attorney General, following which the matter was referred to CIABOC, which is now conducting the investigation.

By Saman Indrajith