EX PERC HEAD AND CORRUPTION VIGILANTE _‘PROUD SRI LANKA IMPEACHED
CJ’
*Cites UN corruption convention
*Rubbishes Jayaratne
Well known corruption buster and former Chairman of PERC (Public
Enterprises Reform Commission), Nihal Sri Amarasekera said that as a
member of a global anti-corruption organization, he would be proud to
say to the world that Sri Lanka impeached her Chief Justice on integrity
related issues.
He said so in a radio interview with SLBC last morning with the
programme People’s Power. Amarasekera said that there are serious
integrity issues involving the CJ, and that she has not been able to
acquit herself before a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)
investigating them.
He stated that he had submitted an affidavit to the PSC with regard
to some matters relating to her sitting on a Bench when her husband held
public office, and would release the document to the media soon.
He also stated yesterday in this newspaper that the Banks that did
not report the CJ’s questionable transactions had to be taken to task by
the Central Bank for not disclosing the information.
Asked about the fact that a former head of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
Chandra Jayaratne had contended that the CJ’s account information being
released for the purposes of the impeachment motion was a violation of
banking secrecy,
Amarasekera said that this person must still be in the ‘chamber of
commerce era’’because the UN anti-corruption convention that Sri Lanka
is signatory to mandates Banks to release information of high ranking
officials, that involve questionable transactions, to the relevant
authorities.
Amarasekera who has earned plaudits as an anti-corruption activist
who exposed the Hilton Hotel fraud involving an entire extra floor, for
example, also served as the head of PERC, and has solid and neutral
anti-corruption credentials.
He said that he does not understand why those who should be fighting
corruption and calling for good governance - -at least some of them –
are opposing the impeachment which has been done as per the provisions
in the constitution.
He said that he will be proud to state in anti-corruption forums
worldwide that ‘Sri Lanka impeached her Chief Justice for corruption
related issues’ – an accomplishment, in maintaining integrity in the
judiciary, and holding an official who should certainly be a person of
unimpeachable integrity in such an office, to account. |