Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) filed legal action on Tuesday in the Supreme Court challenging the National Audit (Amendment) Bill which was published in the gazette on June 23. The Bill is to amend the National Audit Act No. 19 of 2018. The petition has been filed in public intrest.
The National Audit Act is one of the key legislative tools to uphold financial accountability and combat corruption within the public sector, the TISL said while stressing that it empowers the Auditor-General to audit public institutions and hold officials accountable for misuse or mismanagement of public funds.
"This is done particularly through its provisions on imposing surcharges as penalties. Surcharge is designed to ensure that public officers are accountable for losses or mismanagement of public resources due to fraud, negligence, misappropriation, or corruption. In the proposed amendment, there are several provisions that weaken this framework and risk undermining the independence, authority, and effectiveness of the public auditing process," a statement from TISL said.
One of the most concerning features of the Bill is the proposed removal of “negligence” as a basis for surcharge under Sections 19 and 23 of the principal enactment, TISL said. "This lowers the standard of responsibility for public officials, potentially shielding them from being held liable even where losses to the state are caused by careless or reckless duty of care. This contradicts the public trust doctrine and weakens constitutional safeguards for citizens against mismanagement of public funds,"
The bill also introduces a “Surcharge Review Committee” to make decisions on recommendations on imposing a surcharge made by the Auditor-General. The power to make final decisions on surcharging and the amounts to be recovered is vested in the “Surcharge Review Committee” appointed by the President.
The Petition flagged concerns over the absence of a mechanism to ensure that the decisions taken by the Surcharge Review Committee are open, fair, and accountable.
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