The take-over of nine acres of Chalmers Granaries land in Colombo under new expropriation laws is a bizarre case of land being acquired when it is already owned by the government. A senior official of the Colombo Land Registry told Business Times that the ownership of 9 acres, 3 roods and 27.2 perches had been transferred to Urban Development Authority (UDA) on 20th June 1980 under a decree issued by then President J.R. Jayewardena, and remains todate as property owned by the UDA.

Questions are being raised on the unfair treatment meted out to small shareholders in Hotel Developers PLC (HDP) and Pelwatte Sugar Industries PLC (Pelwatte) during the progress of the expropriation bill as trading in these stocks were permitted days after the news hit the market, without being suspended by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), corporate lawyers said.