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AG excused on grounds of conflict of interest
View(s):Attorney General Dappula de Livera on Friday asked that he be excused from giving evidence before the PSC on the grounds that his appearance as a witness under oath would compromise him from performing his duties as AG.
Dappula de Livera
Making submissions before the Committee, the AG raised several matters such as the possibility of issues now before judicial forums being discussed during the PSC hearings. “In several Fundamental Rights cases in the Supreme Court, I appear for the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. There are Cabinet Ministers on this Committee. They are actually my clients,” the AG noted, adding this was a conflict of interest as he would have to obtain instructions from his clients on the very same issues the PSC was deliberating.
The Committee retired for 15 minutes to discuss the issues raised by the AG. When it reconvened, PSC Member M.A. Sumanthiran said the Committee has agreed to excuse the AG from testifying on the grounds that the AG signs indictments in his name. “In that sense, there is a possibility that several issues may arise in future and as PSC members we do not want such a thing to happen,” he remarked, but added that they did not find the other reasons given by the AG to be sustainable.
With the AG being excused from giving evidence, the PSC heard testimony from Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena and State Counsel Malik Aziz.
SC Aziz’s conduct came under severe scrutiny from the Committee as TID officers who testified earlier in the week had noted that he was the officer who handled the dossier related to Zahran and the NTJ at the AG’s Department. The TID told the PSC that they had sent two dossiers containing information on Zahran and the NTJ to the AG’s Department on 07.06.2017 and 12.06.2018 but did not receive a written response, with TID officers only being called for a meeting on 12.03.2019.
Committee members extensively questioned Mr Aziz on why he took so much time to respond to the TID. Regarding the first dossier, State Counsel Aziz said it did not contain enough content for the AG’s Department to act upon. He told the Committee that there was no legal provisions to ban the NTJ’s website, as the TID had requested.
The second dossier contained many videos related to Zahran and others. “However, there was no further information on whether those who appeared in the videos were arrested or if investigations had been launched against them. I explained to the TID officers at the meeting held on March 12, 2019 that there were deficiencies in the files and urged them to rectify them,” he claimed.