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Friday, 3 February 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shanika Sriyananda
Lawyer Nagananda Kodituwakku has requested President Maithripala Sirisena to direct the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to commence an independent and credible probe into the tax-free car permit fraud involving several parliamentarians, including Cabinet Ministers.
Kodituwakku also requested him to answer the international community, especially the British Government, which has granted £ 6.6 million to CIABOC to combat corruption.
In his letter to the President, Koddituwakku, a public litigation activist, said that the Government had accepted the abuse of tax-free permits by MPs, which incurred a loss of Rs. 40 billion and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in 20 November 2016 had proposed to abolish all tax-free permits including the permits for MPs.
He also reminded the President about his pledge to the World Anti-Corruption Summit in 2016 and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s main slogan at the 2015 elections to establish a corruption-free Government
“The international community and people of Sri Lanka valued the commitment of your Government to make Sri Lanka a better place. However, this hope was short-lived,” he has stated in the letter.
Submitting a list of names of MPs who had sold their luxury vehicles – Toyota Land Cruisers and Hummers - he has noted that the MPs had violated Section 3C of the Excise (Special Provisions) Act, No.8 of 1994, which states that any person who intends to sell or dispose of any goods (including vehicles) imported tax-free should obtain the prior permission of the Director-General of Excise and pay all levies exempted at the time of importation.
He accused the MPs in the 8th Parliament of causing huge revenue loss of over Rs. 7 billion to the Government.
Koddituwakku informed the President that he had complained twice to CIABOC on MPs abusing the tax-free permits and as no action has been taken so far by CIABOC, he had filed a corruption case in the Supreme Court on 19 December 2017 against MPs who have openly abused the tax-free permits to misappropriate public funds,.
He has also requested President Sirisena to remove all members of CIABOC and its Director General, all of whom have failed to investigate the massive fraud.
Meanwhile, Koddituwakku has again requested the President to appoint persons of integrity and eminence, who could act independent of the political pressure exerted on CIABOC, to investigate corruption.
Citing the conviction of three UK Parliamentarians - David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Eric Illsley, who were found guilty of misusing public funds for unjust enrichment and were each sent to jail for 18 months - as an example, Koddituwakku requested the President to take legal action against all MPs who had misused their vehicle permits and ensure that the misappropriated public funds were recovered.
