SC dismisses FR against losses to EPF, ETF during DDO process

Thursday, 10 August 2023 00:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a fundamental rights petition filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) aligned Inter-Company Employees’ Union led by former MP Wasantha Samarasinghe and six others against the Government’s plan to restructure domestic debt.

The petitioners had requested the court to issue an order preventing the Government from waiving off loans obtained from the EPF and ETF funds during the domestic debt restructuring process.

They claimed that 93% of the funds deposited in the EPF and 86% of the funds deposited in the ETF have been utilised for investments in government treasury bills and central bank bonds. They further alleged that the government’s decision to waive off loans acquired from these EPF and ETF accounts is unjust towards the working population, which comprises around 20 million individuals.

Consequently, the petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to declare that the fundamental human rights of the working populace would be infringed upon if the loans acquired from the relevant funds were curtailed during the local debt restructuring proceedings. They also requested an interim court order to prevent such actions from being taken.

The petition filed in June had named 46 respondents including the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Officials of the EPF and ETF.

While the government has provided reassurances that the domestic debt restructuring will not negatively impact the EPF and the ETF, trade unions have rejected this assertion. They hold the belief that the restructuring of domestic debt will primarily burden the EPF and the ETF.