Case against CBK: More respondents added

The Supreme Court this week, added five respondents to the 16 respondents already cited in the fundamental rights application filed by two retired public servants against former President Chandrika Kumaratunga for helping a family friend to profit to the tune of over Rs. 60 million from a transaction involving the lease of State land.

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga

Two former Cabinet Ministers in the Kumaratunga government - Mangala Samaraweera and Indika Gunawardena -both having held the portfolios of Urban Development, a Kumaratunga loyalist Tilan Wijesinghe who was BOI Chairman, the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha and the Land Reclamation and Development Board (LRDB) were made parties to the case in which the petitioners say that the then Kumaratunga government illegally and unfairly gave some 134 acres of land around the new Parliament complex at Battaramulla, meant for a public purpose, to develop a private golf club.

In the process, then President Kumaratunga had herself introduced a Cabinet paper saying that a Japanese investor was prepared to build a golf course, but that the Japanese existed ‘only on paper’. Instead, some Sri Lankan formed a company on the lease provided by the UDA, and sold the shares of the company to another Sri Lankan businessman. It was later discovered that a very close family friend of the former President - Ronnie Peiris - a UK based businessman with whom Ms. Kumaratunga stays when in Britain, had made money from this transaction to the tune of over Rs. 60 million.

Chief Justice Sarath Silva presided on the Bench together with Justice Shirani Tillekawardene and Justice Jagath Balapatabendi.
The court stated that while there existed a secrecy clause in the Inland Revenue Department, it was up to the Inland Revenue chief to submit relevant objections on this matter. The petitoners have given the file numbers pertaining to the transactions where it was proved that Ronnie Peiris had taken a sum of monies for the sale of the shares of a company called Asia Pacific Golf Courses Ltd., even though he was not a share-holder. The petitioners say that Ronnie Peiris profited from this because of his association with former President Kumaratunga who was directly instrumental in the transaction.

They say that former President Kumaratunga misled her own Cabinet, and engaged in a corrupt transaction. The Supreme Court also permitted four other petitioners, K. Mahinda Perera, K. Amala Perera, Chandrika Amarasinghe and K. Leelananda Perera to intervene in the FR application. These petitioners have come to court saying that they are the original residents on the property which is now part of the golf club, and that they were offered only Rs. 312 per perch as compensation when the State took over the land for a 'public purpose', which was later sold for Rs. 600,000 per perch. The court ordered the LRDB to also submit to court any previous land deals of a similar nature expanding the scope of the FR application into a virtual full-fledged inquiry into illegal land transactions during the period of former President Kumaratunga's tenure of office.

Some of the other respondents cited are Sumal Perera, Chairman of Asia Pacific Golf Courses Ltd., Shantha Elroy Godwin Wijesinghe, Siva Selvaratnam, Suweneetha Gressel Selvaratnam and former President Kumaratunga herself.Court fixed the matter for inquiry on February 11, 2008. J.C. Weliamuna instructed by Samararatna Associates, Attorneys-at-Law appeared for the two retired public servants who have taken the matter up as a matter of public concern.

Faiz Mustapha PC with Faiza Markar and Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi appeared for the intervenient petitoners, the local residents who were deprived of their lands.