අඬමුද? සිනාසෙමුද?
This article critically examines the controversial tenure and actions of former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva, detailing his abuse of judicial power for personal and political gain. It outlines his role in imprisoning S.B. Dissanayake to appease President Chandrika Kumaratunga, his subsequent legal betrayal of Kumaratunga following a personal insult regarding his behavior toward women, and his intimidation of treasury officials to secure an abnormally high pension. The author also provides a detailed investigative account of a 2004 incident near Diyawanna Oya, where police allegedly found the Chief Justice half-naked in a parked vehicle with a woman, using the cover-up of this event to highlight the systemic corruption and apathy within Sri Lanka’s political, parliamentary, and judicial systems.
ක්රමය කුණුවී තිබෙන තරම පෙන්නුම් කරන නඩුවක්
Ivan sets out a fundamental-rights petition by T.R. Ratnasiri, a deputy superintendent of Customs, who for ten years has fought at his own expense to pursue a Rs 619 million customs fraud case against Colombo Dockyard. He traces how the inquiry was halted under a 2003 tax amnesty, revived, then undermined by three judgments of Sarath N. Silva that curtailed Customs’ powers, and how the petition accuses Attorney General Mohan Peiris and Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera of acting to have the appeal withdrawn over the Director General’s objections. The courts, he notes, have shown little interest in hearing it.
අනාගැනීම
Ivan argues that Ranil Wickremesinghe wasted his mandate at its peak by not negotiating terms of cohabitation, letting the President keep her choice of IGP, ambassadors, governors and service chiefs. Now she asserts that no one may investigate her or dissolve Parliament but herself. He says the government cannot pursue her Rs 2,445 million vehicle spending while protecting Treasury Secretary Jayasundera, and that her offer to abolish the presidency entirely is a time-wasting trap.
ජේ ආර් ප්රේමදාස හා චන්ද්රිකා ආශ්රයෙන් රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ
Ivan compares the new Prime Minister with three presidents. J.R. Jayewardene thought big and was democratic with his cabinet though authoritarian towards the country; Premadasa was the reverse; Chandrika Kumaratunga had no national goal and was autocratic towards both. He credits Ranil Wickremesinghe’s restraint on the ethnic issue and his rapid lifting of northern restrictions, likened to John Major in Northern Ireland, but faults his hoarding of ministries and his ambivalence on the Chief Justice and holdover officials.