Govt. to seek AG’s advice on SriLankan probe
While the Government is to refer the SriLankan Airlines probe report on malpractices to the Attorney General for advice on how to proceed, several heads of departments against whom strong strictures were made in the report continue in their respective posts.
Deputy Aviation Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told the Business Times that the report would be referred to the Attorney General (AG) for his opinion on the matter following which necessary action would be taken.
The SriLankan Airlines report, submitted by a committee headed by renowned lawyer J.C. Weliamuna to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last week, made a number of recommendations to file criminal cases against officials like the former Chairman Nishantha Wickremesinghe and CEO Kapila Chandrasena.
It also criticised the actions of several other officials and recommended action against them.
The issue of whether it is correct for officials, against whom strong allegations have been made in the report, to continue in office or sent on leave pending the inquiry, came up at a Colombo business event on Thursday. Responding to a question, Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne said his own view was that “you certainly can’t have an independent inquiry if the culprits are still there. I will bring this to the notice of the SriLankan Airlines board”.
The report, which has been widely published in the Sunday Times and other media across the week, spoke of fraud, irregularities and mismanagement in various areas here in Sri Lanka and overseas.