More accounts, in face of denials by CJ

In the face of denials by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, with regard to allegations of financial impropriety in the impeachment motion now before the legislature, confidential sources say there are more accounts than the 19 undeclared financial accounts referred to in the impeachment motion.

Though it is now too late to include the details of these additional accounts in the motion before Parliament, the fresh revelations would be pertinent in any impeachment hearings and could give the lie to the Chief Justice’s position that ‘there may have been some inoperative accounts.’ In a letter sent through her lawyers, they say in the defence of the CJ that, “Our Client has been banking exclusively with the National Development Bank (NBD) since 2010. Our Client has declared all operative accounts that have assets in her declaration of assets and liabilities.

“The Bank has informed our Client that there are a few non-operative accounts which contain zero balances.

“There may be non-operative accounts in other banks which our Client operated prior to 30th October 1996, which our Client believes have been closed.”

Our sources say that it seems quite astounding that the CJ did not know of accounts in various banks, of which now it appears, there are well more than the said twenty in the impeachment papers.

They say that a separate investigation of this well in excess of twenty accounts and the circumstances they came into existence, is called for.