The Hon. Chithral Fernando, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, discussing insolvency reminds us the country itself was driven into insolvency. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) pursued a fundamental rights petition and obtained a Supreme Court determination identifying mismanagement of public funds and violations of Article 12(1) (equal protection). Today, again, we must speak of mismanagement of public funds, including the recent USD 2.5 million incident—while far larger losses, like tens of billions of rupees at SriLankan Airlines, have occurred. It is not only the magnitude; it is the principle and the pattern.

¶ 02 The Penal Code’s provisions on criminal breach of trust by public servants, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, are implicated when public funds are mismanaged. We learned from the media that even the Central Bank had flagged the target account before the transaction—yet it went ahead. Do not attempt to browbeat us; these facts are public.

¶ 03 On digitalization: the Government’s rhetoric now stands compromised. Public confidence in routine digital banking transfers has been shaken—this must be addressed transparently.

¶ 04 Why was Parliament not informed at once? Initially, the Treasury Secretary said it was a “hacker” and then claimed confidentiality was deliberate to avoid obstructing investigations. But then another official said Parliament was closed—contradictory explanations. The BBC reported that the extent became clearer only after cyber criminals attempted another payment due to India, triggering suspicion about altered account details. The January incident may have been in India; the Australian one was around 23 March. Parliament sat on 7 April. Why no disclosure then? Later, when asked on 7 April, the answer was that “full information was not available yet.”

¶ 05 The clearest statement, however, came from Hon. Lakmali Hemachandra, who asked why this should be told to Parliament at all, and then cited executive power under Article 4. But Parliament’s control over public finance is paramount. Standing Order 121(2) assigns examination of “public debt and debt service” to COPF. How then can Parliament be bypassed on a cross-border remittance loss?

¶ 06 We also heard a Minister say USD 600,000 was released from the Postal Department with no issue flagged. What else has been concealed under similar pretexts? Be forthright now; otherwise, when facts surface later, you will be forced into cascading falsehoods. If mistakes occurred, admit them and correct course. Otherwise, this will stand alongside the litany of past thefts.