Two fundamental rights (FR) petitions were filed in the Supreme Court yesterday (23) seeking an order nullifying the appointment of former Finance State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The petitions were filed by Samagi Jana Balawegaya General Secretary MP Ranjith Maddumabandara and MP Manusha Nanayakkara.
The petitioners seek a decision on the appointment of Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Governor of the Central Bank and the recommendation to appoint him to the post violating the fundamental rights of the people of this country guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution.
Therefore, the petitioners also seek an order from the President to remove him from his position. The petitions also state that a person who has continued to be a politician is not suitable for the post of Central Bank Governor .
The Attorney General, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Secretary to the President Dr.P. B. Jayasundera have been named as the respondents.The petitioners allege that Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is facing serious charges of misappropriation of public funds.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka conducted a forensic audit on the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Central Bank Bond scam. According to the report, it is stated that the government incurred a loss of between Rs. 10.4 billion and 10.6 billion between 2005 and 2015 when Ajith Nivard Cabraal was the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, petitions said.The petitioners also allege that during the tenure of Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Governor of the Central Bank, a CIA agent named Imad Shah Zuberi was paid US $ 6.5 million to build Sri Lanka’s image in the United States. The petitions also state that the country lost the amount due to the unwise payment through the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 2014.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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