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Cabraal’s media secretary responds to Keerthi Tennekoon’s private plaint

Published

4 years ago

2022/05/29

The Private Plaint filed by Mr. Keerthi Tennekoon (complainant) against Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal (respondent) was scheduled to be taken up on May 2, 2022 before Magistrate Harshana Kekunuwela at the Colombo Magistrate’s Court No. 4.

However, that day was declared a public holiday by the Government, and hence certain cases, including the private plaint under reference fixed for that day were postponed by the Court authorities to July 25, 2022.

A few days later, the complainant and his counsel had sought to advance the hearing in this particular case, and, based on an ex-parte application, it had been reported that the court had granted an earlier date of May 23, 2022 for the case to be called.

In that regard, the respondent had to be notified to be present in court on that date by way of an official court summons. However, as at May 22, 2022, such summons had not been served on the respondent personally ordering him to be present in court.

Nevertheless, upon learning that this matter may be taken up by court on May 23 even though summons had not been served on the respondent, out of an abundance of caution, Mr. Cabraal’s lawyers Mr. Shavendra Fernando, PC and Mr Jeevantha Jayatilake, Senior Counsel, were present in court and explained to court the serious circumstances in the country that had resulted in the respondent having to be away from his residence. They also assured court that the respondent would be present in court on the scheduled date of July 25, 2022, as previously fixed by the court authorities.

On that day, the respondent’s lawyers would comprehensively refute the complainant’s allegations, and make it clear that such allegations leveled by the complainant are false &/or misfounded &/or politically-motivated &/or malicious.

In this context, with regard to the complainant’s allegations, it is noted that the same complainant (Mr. Keerthi Tennekoon) had previously filed a Petition in the Court of Appeal on September 14, 2021 based on certain alleged “findings” in a “Forensic Audit Report” dated November 8, 2019 carried out by an Indian company, “BDO India LLP”, pertaining to the issuance of Treasury Bonds and the conduct of Primary Dealers from 2010 to 2017.

In that case too, Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal was named as a respondent. That petition had been since dismissed by the Court of Appeal on November 3, 2021. This vital information has however been suppressed from the Magistrate’s Court by the complainant, and it is very likely that, if the complainant had properly disclosed the Court of Appeal Order to the Honourable Magistrate, this allegation in the private plaint would not have even been entertained.

It is also noted that another allegation of Mr. Tennakoon pertains to a payment of USD 6.5 million made by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) in respect of a Communication Program of the GOSL with a US National, Mr. Imaad Zuberi. In that context, as the banker to the government, the payments made by the CBSL on behalf of the GOSL have been made on the official written instructions of the appropriate government authority, and the respective payment protocols and procedures had been followed by the CBSL when making these payments.

Therefore, there has been no procedural or other violation in making these payments on behalf of the GOSL, and accordingly, this allegation of the complainant is also not sustainable.Mr. Tennakoon’s next allegation refers to the settlement of the GOSL’s USD 500m International Sovereign Bond (ISB) that matured on January 18, 2022, where it has been claimed that such settlement was done by the respondent notwithstanding the advice of various experts, in order to enable certain unspecified investors to make undue profits.

In this context, it must be clearly understood that settling or not settling the country’s sovereign debt is not a matter where a single individual can arbitrarily decide. It is of course possible that self-proclaimed experts (who bear no responsibility for their unsolicited advice) could advocate the non-payment of Sri Lanka’s foreign loans, including a maturing ISB.

However, such unofficial requests cannot be acted upon by responsible government officials without a formal direction or order from the Government (the Borrower) and perhaps even the approval of Parliament since funds for “debt servicing” had already been appropriated by Parliament when it approved the Budget 2022.

Further, at the time in question, the official Government policy was to pay its sovereign debt diligently, which policy, the Ministry of Finance and the CBSL had followed faithfully since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948. Needless to say, such policy could not have been unilaterally abrogated by the Governor of the CBSL on January 18, 2022 as claimed by the complainant, and therefore this allegation too, is baseless and misfounded.

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PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

The Colombo Central Bus Stand, which has a history of over six decades and had remained without a proper maintenance for many years, has now been renovated under the current government’s development programme and vested to the public. Following that, the Prime Minister undertook an inspection tour of the newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand.

Originally constructed in 1964, the bus stand was refurbished with modern facilities to meet current needs and was officially reopened to the public on April 8. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide passengers with a higher-quality and more comfortable transportation service.

During the renovation process, special attention has been given to the comfort and safety of women, which was commended by the Prime Minister. In particular, a modern rest area designed to ensure privacy for nursing mothers travelling from distant areas received special praise.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the newly introduced passenger seat reservation system and information services established to assist commuters. In addition, the modern surveillance unit and other security measures installed within the premises to ensure passenger safety were also inspected.

During the visit, the Prime Minister engaged in conversations with passengers at the bus stand and inquired about their views on the newly renovated facilities and the quality of transport services.

It was emphasized that the government’s objective is to transform public transportation into a safe, technologically advanced service that can be used with convenience by all citizens.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

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Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

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Opposition tells Minister Kumara Jayakody to resign

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/10

Thilina Walpola

Prof. Peiris

No-faith motion to be taken up today

Former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (9) said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should remove Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody unless the minister stepped down on his own.Prof. Peiris, addressing a press conference called by the Opposition, said that Jayakody couldn’t under any circumstance continue to serve as a minister after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) moved the Colombo High Court against the government member over a previous financial scandal.

Pointing out that Minister Jayakody had been indicted of a corrupt deal struck during the yahapalana regime, Prof. Peiris said it was wrong for the NPP to retain him as a minister, claiming that the offence was not committed during his tenure as a Cabinet minister in the current government.

Prof. Peiris and several other Opposition members dealt with the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Jayakody that would be taken up today (10) with the academic calling the vote an acid test for the NPP. Having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP couldn’t protect Jayakody though he was widely believed to be close to President Dissanayake.

As the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertilizer Company, Jayakody is alleged to have committed the offence of corruption, according to CIABOC.

Jayakody has been accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the State by influencing and exploiting the procurement process.

Following the serving of indictments on 27 March, the judge ordered Jayakody’s release on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court directed that the defendant’s fingerprints be obtained and a formal report be submitted. The case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 6 May.

Prof. Peiris stressed that the CIABOC action against Jayakody is central to the NCM primarily moved over the irregularities ridden coal procurement process launched in 2025 that caused severe disruption to the power generation. Responding to The Island query after the media briefing, Prof Peiris expressed surprise that the JVP/NPP accommodated a person under investigation by the CIABOC. Having taken an utterly irresponsible decision, the JVP/NPP were now playing down the developing issue, prof. Peiris said.

The entire government parliamentary group faced the prospect of having its image tarnished by defending Jayakody, the former lawmaker said.

Prof. Peiris said that they intended to build a campaign around the issues involving the energy minister to expose the government. With yet another electricity tariff hike in the offing due to the growing demand for thermal generation as a result of coal-fired Lakvijaya power plant’s failure to meet the requirement[RA1] , the energy minister and ministry’s performances have to be examined, Prof. Peiris said.The timely release of the Auditor General’s report on controversial coal procurement should compel the government to decide on the energy minister’s fate or be prepared to face the fallout.

By Shamindra Ferdinando