The Sri Lanka Chapter of Transparency International (TISL) has filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court calling for action against persons responsible for the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
The TISL website said that the petition was filed in the public interest considering the lack of accountability and transparency in high level decision-making which has brought Sri Lanka to its knees.
Among the 13 respondents, TISL cited in its petition are the Attorney-General (representing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa), former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, former Secretary to the Treasury S.R. Attygala and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The petition lists several reasons for the current economic crisis. They are the reduction in government revenue caused by the illegal and arbitrary tax breaks granted in 2019, the failure to reverse the illegal tax break, the failure to take remedial measures subsequent to rating downgrades and the failure to devalue the Sri Lankan Rupee in a timely, orderly and appropriate manner despite widespread calls to do so. The petition also states that the decision to continue servicing sovereign debt without any restructuring and the refusal to seek the assistance of the IMF until the crisis had exacerbated also contributed to the economic crisis which is crippling the country.
The petitioners argue that the actions or inactions of the respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the citizens to equality, freedom of expression and the right to information guaranteed under the Constitution.
The petition also claims that the respondents named in the petition are directly responsible for the unsustainability of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, its hard default on foreign loan repayments and the current state of the economy of Sri Lanka.
It adds that the actions and inaction of the respondents have led to the current shortages of food, medicine, fuel and gas in the country which has victimized the entire population in an unprecedented manner.
The petition calls for the respondents to be held accountable for their illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable acts or omissions which have culminated in the current economic crisis.
The co-petitioners in the application are Chandra Jayaratne, Jehan CanagaRetna and Julian Bolling
