A fundamental rights petition was filed in the Supreme Court yesterday seeking an order to prevent the Treasury Secretary from taking any steps to sell, lease or alienate state properties, vested with Selendiva Investments Ltd., Company or any subsidiary of this company. The petition was filed by G. Kapila Renuka Perera, Secretary of the Professional’s National Front Sri Lanka (PNF).

Attorney-at-Law Dharshana Weraduwage appears for Perera, who says he is trying to protect public property and prevent their to misuse.

Those named as respondents are Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle, the Director General of Department of Public Enterprises P. A.S. Athula Kumara, Selendiva Investments Limited, Auditor General W. P. C. Wickremaratne, Security and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, Colombo Stock Exchange, the Registrar General of Companies, Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC, Hotels Colombo (1963) Ltd, Bank of Ceylon, Canwill Holdings (Private) Limited, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd, The Monetary Board (CBSL), Litro Gas Lanka Ltd, Urban Development Authority, Secretary to the Cabinet, Selendiva Leisure Investments Limited and the Attorney General.

The petitioner states that on or around 18 of May, 2021, he saw a Cabinet news briefing. One of the proposals that had been approved by the Cabinet was to hand over state-owned Canwill Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC and Hotels Colombo Ltd to Selendiva Investments Ltd without the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, he said.

The petitioner has said Selendiva Investments Ltd., has been incorporated in accordance with a Cabinet approval granted on or around 24th of March 2020. The complete ownership of the company is vested with Secretary to the Treasury and the objective was to form a state-owned Property Development Company to restructure several state owned entities to improve their performance.

However, Selendiva is now trying to sell some heritage buildings listed in the City of Colombo Development Plan 1999. The petitioner says such action will not only cause irreparable damages to the cultural heritage of the country but also threaten the country’s sovereignty and violate the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country.

The petitioner has also sought Supreme Court to nominate a Special Bench for the disposal of this petition in terms of Article 132(3) (iii) of the Constitution.