The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Why do I raise this? I will expose the process. A liquor licence was given to Vintage Wine & Spirits under Global Blending. The person who spoke most about this was Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe. Hon. Minister, please listen. When the payment was received on 2024.01.18, the company had not even been registered. It was registered on 2024.02.12. So, a licence was given to an unregistered company. Further, a person named L.D. Wijesekara—an associate of former Minister Prasanna Ranatunga—working at the Excise Department, is involved. Initially, the licence was in the name of Nilan Kanayaka Arachchi Mudiyanselage Priyantha Kumara; later it was altered to the name Wijesekara. Who changed it? Then Gampaha Divisional Secretary K.K.S.L. Gunasekara, now a Deputy Commissioner at the Excise Department. Next, the officer in charge of Excise, Domestic Revenue, and Customs—Nishantha Jayawira—was unaware. Names were cut and re-entered—this is completely wrong. Yet this happened with Gunasekara’s approval.

¶ 02 You also increased liquor taxes—one Gazette among 108 others. The Deputy Finance Minister did not know. The President had a large pack of Gazettes to sign before leaving the country; this was included and signed. I raised it then; the Deputy Minister showed concern. I will provide the details. Please look into this.

¶ 03 Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe also said he would reveal the names of those who got the 29 licences. I still haven’t received them. Of the 360 existing licences, 172 have been reissued; others are being issued gradually from inside. I have a list; I table it.

¶ 04 • Tabled. • Placed in the Library.

¶ 05 Under Heritage Ventures, a licence has been given to Ranjith, the second son of Hon. Johnston Fernando. Another to Sumith Udukumbura, MP, under Gow Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Another to Widanallage Anuja Jinajith Samarakon Bandara, son of Hon. Shanta Bandara. Another to the son of Hon. Range Bandara. One to Fortune Retail, the Mendis Company. Another in Kandy/Nawalapitiya to a former Mayor’s business partner. Another to Ruwan Bandara, coordinating secretary to State Minister Dilum Amunugama. Another to Ranil Rajapaksa, coordinating secretary to former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Another to Vithusan Vincentraj, a relative of former MP Angajan Ramanathan. Many more are with me.

¶ 06 A pattern is evident: when transferring a licence from one person to another, a transfer fee of about Rs. 15 million is charged. Now licences are being issued to the same company in multiple districts—eight licences to Dhammika Kariyawasam under the Hansa Giri chain across Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, and Badulla. A “Risandi Dihasa Kariyawasam” is listed as beneficiary—aged under 21. A person under 21 cannot be issued a liquor licence. I have the documents. I will also name those pressuring the Excise Commissioner, with photographs of visits to residences. I will print them and table.

¶ 07 On taxation: Of a Rs. 3,680 bottle, Rs. 2,780 is tax. Producers are not allowed distribution licences under law, but many producers have been given large numbers of retail licences. Cancel them; this is Government revenue. You seek Rs. 200 billion, but there is scope to find Rs. 500 billion if these leakages are stopped. Please act.

¶ 08 Finally, on the Deputy Solicitor General’s statement that he could not attend court due to security concerns, and on the IGP’s case—if even the DSG says this, it shows how far the rule of law has declined. Please reflect on this.

¶ 09 Thank you.