The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, which met today (31), has unanimously passed resolutions to request President’s counsel Kaushalya Navaratne to step down from his position. Sri Lanka Latest News
It was revealed that the President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association Mr. Kaushalya Navaratne had breached his trust while implementing a Rs.2 cores advisory service project commissioned under the patronage of Japan’s JICA corporation.
The five-member special committee appointed by the Bar Council to investigate the misappropriation of funds allocated for an anti-corruption program funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has decided that the president of the Sri Lanka Bar Association, President Advocate Kaushalya Navaratne, Sri Lanka Bar Association and He has failed to be transparent about the agreement between JICA and thereby breached the trust placed in him as the President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association.
The concerned special committee had held eight meetings since May 29 before arriving at their final findings.
Under the chairmanship of President’s Attorney Faizer Mustafa and President’s Attorney Dr. K. The committee consisting of Kanag-Easwaran, President’s Counsel Riansy Arsakularatne, President’s Counsel Ikram Mohamed and President’s Counsel Jeffrey Alagaratnam, after considering the evidence presented, has revealed a lack of transparency in the contracting process and resource selection.
In addition, the committee has also found that the Deputy President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association, President’s Attorney Nalinda Indatissa, has failed to provide meaningful supervision regarding this process.
However, the special committee has found that the President’s lawyer Shavindra Fernando and Indatissa’s cousin, who were paid as resources under this project, have not committed any wrongdoing.
The Committee has unanimously recommended the establishment of a Financial Manual to define clear procedures for documentation, financial management and payments within the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.
This recommendation has been made with the understanding that the Board of Officers of the Sri Lanka Bar Association is expected to maintain the highest standards of transparency and honesty, particularly in financial matters.
Furthermore, the committee has agreed that members of the Sri Lanka Bar Association should not receive financial or other monetary benefits from the activities of the association.
This requirement also applies to family members and persons closely associated with members of the Bar Association.
The controversy began in May when a group of legal professionals, including ten presidential lawyers and over 80 lawyers, called for a comprehensive inquiry into the JICA project scandal.
The group accused President’s Counsel Kaushalya Navaratne and five members of the Sri Lanka Bar Association of misusing the money allocated for the anti-corruption program funded by JICA.
JICA reported that the project cost 21 million rupees, and at least 19 million rupees were misappropriated by the five accused.
Source: Daily FT
