News
Nawaratne denies wrongdoing
President’s Counsel Kaushalya Nawaratne, who resigned from his position as the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), with immediate effect on Friday, has, in his resignation letter, denied any wrongdoing.The BASL last week unanimously called for the resignation of its President Nawaratne following a report by a five-member committee.
The committee, which was appointed to investigate the JAICA fund controversy, found that Nawaratne had failed to act with transparency in handling the contract between the BASL and JICA, a violation of the trust placed in him as President.
Full text of Nawaratne PC’s letter of resignation: I write with reference to the letter dated 02.09.2024 received under the hand of the Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. As you are aware, I was elected uncontested for the post of President for two terms, perhaps for the second time in the history of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.
I functioned as an independent apolitical President. Nevertheless, the persons with political and personal agenda did not approve of my acting independently. Such persons made allegations that I have misappropriated a large sum of money received by the Bar Association from JICA. These allegations were given widespread publicity in all media.
Accordingly, at a meeting held on 18.05.2024, the Bar Council decided that a Committee be formed in order to
a. Consider whether alleged misappropriated funds; and
b. Whether I have been involved in wrongdoing by appointing the panel/research officers [known to me] and without interviews
The committee was appointed although the terms of reference were vague. After a lengthy inquiry the committee prepared a unanimous report. As per the report
a. I was totally cleared of any misappropriation
b. I was totally cleared of making any wrongful appointments of research assistants
In the circumstances, the committee totally cleared me of the two allegations made against me. However, at the end of a lengthy report the committee stated that I should have divulged the contract with JICA to the Bar Council either before the contract was entered into or shortly thereafter. You will therefore appreciate that the committee was of the view that I could have entered into such a contract without divulging it to the Bar council and thus clearly without prior approval of the Bar Council. This was another allegation made against me.
Thus, clearly the committee was of the view that I had the authority to enter into such a contract without divulging it to the Bar council or getting their sanction. In the circumstances, the only “wrongdoing” was that as alleged, the said contract had not been divulged to the Bar Council shortly after entering into it.
However, notwithstanding the aforesaid, it is disappointing to note that the said Committee has gone on to express an uninvited opinion that I have breached the trust reposed in me by the members due to the alleged failure to act in a transparent manner. On this, with great regret, but utmost respect to the members of the Committee, I must respond by refuting the said view or opinion, in that it is only the view or opinion of the individual members of the Committee or them collectively but not the view or opinion of the majority of the general membership since no representations were called for or inquired from the general membership. Therefore, expressing such a view is highly irregular, to say the least, and regrettable.
The report was shared among the members of the Bar Council late on 29.08.2024. The Bar council at its meeting on 31.08.2024 is said to have come to a unanimous decision to call for my resignation. I am not aware whether the majority of members of the Bar council had access to the report or had studied it or even whether a majority of the members of the Council were present for the vote.
It is evident that a pre-organized, sponsored, malicious campaign was launched against me through the media with the express malicious intention of tarnishing my professional and personal life. It is obvious that the persons with ulterior motives to capture the control of the BASL are involved in the said malicious campaign which had an adverse impact on the BASL and the legal profession at large. In a recent statement it was alleged that I had alluded to racial and/or religious bias in the Bar Association which I strongly refute as an attempt to misrepresent what I said by confusing it with what was said by the interviewer.
I firmly stand by my position that I have not committed any wrongdoing and that I have been wrongfully accused and victimized for extraneous reasons to suit the hidden agendas of the said few unscrupulous members of the Bar Association. The monies received under the said Agreement were donated to the BASL well prior to the purported allegations being raised and the said money lies at the accounts of the BASL. I wish to specifically place on record the clarification of JICA, which has been widely published, specially, in ‘The Island’ newspaper dated 12th September, 2024, inter alia emphasizing that the Agreement, the agency had with the BASL was in line with their procurement rules and procedures and upon the successful fulfillment of all obligations on the part of the BASL, it made payment to the BASL in full in accordance with the contract. It is a matter of record that the BASL-JICA project was a success in achieving its objectives and in the process earned millions for the various other projects of the BASL.
As aforesaid, I was elected uncontested to the Post of President, BASL as the membership of the BASL was fully aware of my capabilities and/or past achievements and/or credentials and the membership reposed faith and trust in me. I have discharged my functions to the best of my ability and my contribution to the betterment of the BASL and its members is a matter of record. I have not breached the faith and/or trust reposed in me.
Further, I have carried out projects and/or initiatives which brought in much needed revenue in excess of Rs. 60 million to the BASL during the term of my office despite the adverse economic situations in the country whilst simultaneously conducting many programs and activities around the country for the benefit of the membership.
However, in view of unsubstantiated claims made against me particularly in social media, it seems to me that it would be in the best interests of the Bar of this country that I voluntarily step down. In these circumstances, whilst admitting no wrongdoing whatsoever, for the sake of the greater good of the lawyers of this country, I have decided not to pursue this matter any further and to resign from my post.
In these circumstances I resign as President of the BASL with immediate effect.
My said resignation is tendered strictly without prejudice to my rights to take legal action against all individuals and/or institutions who willfully and/or deliberately made and/or published and/or disseminated false statements inter alia defaming and/or damaging my impeccable professional and personal reputation and character.
Finally, I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to His Lordship the Chief Justice, Hon. Judges of the Supreme Court, Hon. President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Judges of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Minister of Justice and the Ministry Officials, Hon. Judges of the High Courts, District Courts, Magistrate Courts and Labour Tribunals, all senior and junior members of the Bar including the staff of the BASL Secretariat, all Government and Private Institutions and the Donor Agencies of the BASL for the support extended during my term of office.
I wish the Bar Association of Sri Lanka the very best in its endeavours to serve the members and uphold the rights of the people as I have always done during my tenure.
…of seven SOCs only one constituted so far
Sri Lanka’s controversial MoU on Defence Cooperation with India was unlikely to be taken up any time soon in Parliament in spite of the House Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection that has been assigned defence, authoritative sources told The Island.
Of the seven SOCs only one was activated with the recent election of Dr. Najith Indika, MP, as the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice, and Civil Protection of the Tenth Parliament.
The inaugural meeting of the current parliament was held on 21 Nov., 2024.
Sources said that the parliament had met for the last time yesterday (10) before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holiday. It is scheduled to meet again on May 8.
The UNDP that has financially backed the establishment of the SOC system to help strengthen the role of the parliament recently reached a consensus with the government to reduce the number of SCOCs from 17 to seven. The Island, in writing, asked for the UNDP’s reaction to the operation of SOCs but had not received a response at the time this edition went to press.
The SOCs have the power to examine any Bill, except the Bills defined in Article 152 of the Constitution, Treaty, Reports including the Annual and Performance Reports relating to the institutions coming under its purview or any other matter referred to the Committee by Parliament or any Committee or a Minister relating to the subjects and functions within their jurisdiction.
Sources said that out of the seven SOCs only one had been activated during the past five months though the government and the Opposition agreed to share the leadership of them.
Accordingly, it was agreed that the government would appoint chairpersons to four SOCs –– Economic Development and International Relations, Health, Media and Women’s Empowerment, Science, Technology and Digital Transformation and Governance, Justice and Civil Protection .
It was also agreed that the Opposition would appoint chairpersons to the SOCs on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, Education, Manpower and Human Capital, and Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability to the Opposition.
India and Sri Lanka on April 5 signed six MoUs on HVDC interconnection for import/export of power, cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation, defence cooperation, multi sectoral grant assistance for Eastern province, health and medicine and pharmacopoeia cooperation. In addition to them, India, Sri Lanka and UAE signed a tripartite MoU cooperation in development of Trincomalee as an energy hub.
The Island asked Ali Sabry, PC, who served as foreign minister during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the President (July 2022 to Sept 2024) whether the seven MoUs had been discussed during that period. We also asked him whether those MoUs should have been discussed at SOCs before finalisation.
Sabry said: “Most of the MOU to my knowledge were discussed except the one on Defence Cooperation, which I am unaware of. General procedure is the relevant line ministry prepares the initial draft and gets the input from the Foreign Ministry and goes for stakeholder consultation of all ministries and agencies involved. Then the President’s Office grants its sanction and with the approval of the AG, it goes before the cabinet of ministers. With Cabinet approval, the government could sign the MOU.”
Sabry said that he was of the opinion that once the government signed a particular MoU, it should be placed before the parliament. “MOU’s are generally not legally binding and only signify the desire to work together. If the signed MoUs were to be implemented, then they have to be followed by agreements or laws.”
He emphasised the pivotal importance of transparency in the whole process. The ex-minister said: “I think transparency is crucial in these matters. Concealment leads to speculation and assumption of the worst. The MOUs should be tabled in Parliament for public information. Discussion at the relevant SOCs would have been helpful. There are growing fears fueled by lack of information in the public domain. This is a private comment, not to be attributed to me.
Asked whether MoUs, particularly the ones on defence and energy had to be approved by the Attorney General, the former minister said that the AG has to advise the MoUs compatibility with the Constitution. “But Article 157 of the Constitution does not apply; the 2/3 majority stipulated there envisages only investment treaties.” Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath assured Parliament on April 8 that the AG had cleared all seven MoUs and none of them were inimical to the country.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered the Election Commission (EC) to accept 35 additional nomination papers for the 2025 local government elections, which had been previously rejected by election officials.
The ruling was issued yesterday by a bench comprising Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir, and Justice Priyantha Fernando. The court ordered the relevant Returning Officers to accept the nominations following hearings on several petitions filed by political parties and independent groups challenging the rejections.
Last week, the Court of Appeal ordered the EC to accept 37 previously rejected nomination papers.
by A.J.A. Abeynayake
The Communist Party (CP) of Sri Lanka yesterday (10) expressed grave concern over the NPP government’s unilateral decision to enter into a defence MOU with Quad-member India.
The CPSL urged All democratic and progressive forces to pressure the government to reveal the contents of the defence agreement with India. It also asked the NPP government to revive the Indian Ocean Peace Zone proposal at the UN and mobilise global opposition to militarisation in the region. All democratic and progressive forces had to build a United Front against a New Cold War, the CP has said.
General Secretary of CP Dr. G. Weerasinghe has issued the following statement: “This decision has been taken without consultation or debate in Parliament and in the context of a New Cold War and heightened militarisation of the Indian Ocean.
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka from 4-6 April, a defence MOU was exchanged between Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka retired Air Vice Marshal H.S. Sampath Thuyacontha and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Indian media has framed this MOU as being part of Indian strategy to counter China’s presence in the region.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assured Modi that Sri Lanka, “will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability”. While the CPSL has no fundamental objection to this, questions remain over India’s own commitment to regional stability.
The fact is that India is a member of the Quad and has partaken in US efforts to contain China in a New Cold War. In 2024, current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tabled a bill in congress to grant India a status on par with NATO members. During a meeting between Modi and US President Donald Trump in February, India and the US entered into a 10-year defence partnership framework to transfer technology, expand co-production of arms, and strengthen military interoperability.
By entering into defence agreements with India, there is a very real danger of Sri Lanka being dragged into the Quad through the back door as a subordinate of India. Sri Lanka could become a de facto part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy and compromise its non-aligned status. This would be antithetical to Sri Lanka’s interests as China is a major investor and trade partner for the country and has supported our sovereignty in international fora.
Sri Lanka is currently not directly embroiled in any conflict with an external actor and therefore has no need to enter into defence agreements. The last defence agreement that Sri Lanka entered into was with the UK-Ceylon Defence Pact (1947-1957), which was a neocolonial arrangement detrimental to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and international relations.
The defence MOU with India could also be interpreted as a step towards further militarisation of the Indian Ocean, which is a violation of the UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace which both countries supported.”
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