The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
The Minister responded to allegations by stating he was prepared to answer and asserted that complaints involving the Hon. Member, including alleged fraud linked to fundraising for school bags and other matters, were before the Bribery Commission and would be pursued. He referred to a past letter of demand seeking Rs. 500 million, saying he had replied inviting legal action and that no case had been filed. He also stated that an alleged fraud relating to Eppawala phosphate stocks was under CID investigation, with part of the remarks expunged by order of the Chair.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Member, you raised allegations assuming I was absent. I am ready to answer. There are files relating to you—about fraud, collecting lakhs claiming to give school bags to children and depositing funds into private accounts. I stated these publicly. Complaints are before the Bribery Commission. What was buried will be brought back up. About the principal kneeling incident, we spoke here of the response; you cannot deny it. Your unauthorized quarry pits, machines on highway reservations—we will bring all that out. You spoke of lawsuits: you sent me a letter of demand for Rs. 500 million through Attorney-at-Law Sujeewa Jayasinghe on 15.01.2018. I replied within 14 days: file action; I will counterclaim. You have not filed a case. You cannot.
¶ 02 As for Eppawala phosphate stock you claimed you sold, there is a major fraud being investigated by the CID. [Expunged on the order of the Chair.]
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 6 February 2025 ·No. 1739271735020022 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 February 2025. No. 1739271735020022. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/801