• Petitioner says loss of public revenue was caused by Pyramid Willmar 
• Names PM, Treasury Secy. and AG among respondents 
• Wants SC to order AG to file criminal charges against company, recover Rs. 16 b for consolidated fund

By T. Farook Thajudeen

JVP senior member Sunil Handunetti yesterday filed a petition before the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle and seven others over the change of the Sugar Commodity Levy that allegedly caused a Rs. 16 billion loss of public revenue.  Others cited in the petition include Pyramid Wilmar Ltd. of Lauries Road, Colombo 4, over corrupt trading practices carried out by the company in connivance with the 1st respondent Mahinda Rajapaksa, 2nd respondent S.R. Attygalle and 3rd respondent Nushad Perera who is the Chairman of Sri Lanka Standards Institution. 

The petitioner alleged that the 1st respondent acting under section 2 of the Special Commodity Levy Act No. 48 of 2007 made certain orders in respect of several commodities and it was gazette on 21 May 2020, which order was valid for six months until 20 November 2020.

He asserts that in terms of the Act all the levies collected under the Act shall be remitted to the Consolidated Fund.

He further states that the 1st respondent had imposed a levy of Rs. 50 per kg of sugar which was reduced to cents: Rs. 0.25 per kg.

The petitioner states that at the time the order was made there had been 10,147.45 metric tons of sugar in the stores that was imported by the private sector. Meanwhile the Consumer Affairs Authority had fixed the maximum price for a kilo of sugar for Rs. 80.

However, the 3rd respondent being the Chairman of the CWE had purchased 750 metric tons of sugar from Pyramid Wilmar for Rs. 92 per kilo and another consignment of 600 metric tons of sugar for Rs. 110 per kilo.

The petitioner contended that the 1st to 7th respondents were well-aware that maximum stock price to sell by the importer was only Rs. 80 and the retail price was Rs. 85 per kg as per gazette notification.

The petitioner claims that the 1st to 5th respondents who were also the owners of Shangri-La Hotel at Galle Face and very close to the Prime Minister and the President, and had helped their political propaganda events of the ‘Viyath Maga,’ had surreptitiously and fraudulently acted in collusion, making an illegal benefit to the 5th respondent company as an award to the 5th respondent Sajan Mawzoon, the Director of Pyramid Wilmer Ltd.

The petitioner pleads to issue a declaration that Fundamental Rights of the Petitioner and the General Public of Sri Lanka guaranteed by Article 12 of the Constitution are infringed by the 1st to 5th respondents; to declare that the President of the Republic has shirked and neglected his duties and responsibilities by not taking steps to prevent the ‘corruptions made by the 1st to 5th respondents and not taking steps to enforce the law against the wrongdoers namely the 1st to 5th respondents. 

The Petitioner also begs the court to order directing the 1st to 5th respondents to pay said sum of Rs. l5,951,598,724 to the Consolidated Fund and to direct the Attorney General to recover the said sum from the 1st to 5th respondents and to credit the same to the Consolidated Fund; to order directing the 9th Respondent, Attorney General Dappula de Livera, to prosecute against the 1st to 5th respondents on ‘criminal charges’; of Rs. 500,000,000 as compensation.  

Sugar levy impact is not revenue loss: Treasury Secy.