Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam has welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling that upheld People’s Bank’s right to auction mortgaged properties to recover an outstanding debt of over USD 1.42 million from Daya Group Limited and Daya Apparel Export (Pvt) Ltd.

In a post on ‘X’, Shanakiyan revealed that in 2021, he exposed Rs. 54 billion in non-performing loans held by People’s Bank and questioned why politically connected and powerful borrowers were allowed to remain in default for years while ordinary citizens faced immediate consequences. 

He further said that the Court has now dismissed a writ application filed by Daya Group Limited and Daya Apparel Export (Pvt) Ltd, finding that the borrowers had defaulted, engaged in repeated rescheduling discussions, sought postponements of auctions, and delayed challenging the bank’s recovery action for more than a year and eight months.

“This is a welcome step towards recovering public funds. However, this is only one case. Many other large borrowers identified in the COPE findings have remained in possession of substantial assets while their loans continued to sit as non-performing on the books of state banks, despite assurances that legal action was underway,” he said.

Pointing out that when an ordinary citizen defaults on a small loan, recovery action is swift and unforgiving,  Shanakiyan said the same standard must apply to wealthy and influential borrowers. 

“Public money belongs to the people, and accountability cannot depend on who owes the debt,” he added. (Newswire)

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The Nuwara Eliya High Court has sentenced four individuals to death in connection with three separate murder cases, following lengthy trials on Thursday (2).

In one case, a 47-year-old man was sentenced to death over a murder that took place in the Nanu Oya Police Division in 1998.

In a separate incident, a 55-year-old man was sentenced to death for the murder of his mother, wife and child in Pattipola in 2009.

Additionally, two individuals aged 64 and 62 were sentenced to death over the killing of a man using a sharp weapon in Bagawantalawa in 1990. (Newswire)

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The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Integration has been informed that there are a total of  1,131,818 pending cases in Sri Lankan courts. 

According to a Parliament statement, the Committee was informed that the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court stands at 5,785, cases in the Court of Appeal at 4,572, and cases in the High Court’s hearing criminal cases at 6,286.

Cases in the Commercial High Court stand at 6,146, cases in the Special Three-Judge High Court at 3, cases in the High Court at 27,324, cases in the District Courts at 262,665, and cases in the Juvenile Magistrate’s Court at 1,260.

Officials present at a meeting with the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Integration said that due to the high number of pending cases within the judicial system, there were significant delays in the process of delivering justice.

Officials representing the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute stated that a program to streamline the judicial process is currently in operation, and in this regard, a training program for judges is also being implemented.

This discussion took place during the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Integration of the Tenth Parliament, Chaired by Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara at the Parliament yesterday (27 Feb).

Members of Parliament participating in the meeting pointed out that there are significant delays in the functioning of the Attorney General’s Department. 

Officials present at the meeting highlighted that only 70 Senior State Counsels approximately are assigned to the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Department to handle criminal cases received from police divisions across the entire country. Furthermore, they emphasized that a Senior State Counsel is required to have several years of experience and expertise in handling assigned cases, with seniority being a key determining factor.

Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara emphasized that discussions on the workload and delays of the Attorney General’s Department have been ongoing for some time. He further stated that the number of legal officials available in the Department is insufficient in comparison to the volume of pending cases. 

Furthermore, he mentioned that approximately 6 Additional Solicitors General with nearly 30 years of experience are expected to leave the Department within this year. The Minister emphasized that the government is determined to take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of the Attorney General’s Department.

This meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of National Integration, Muneer Mulaffer, Members of the Committee, Members of Parliament and officials representing the Ministry of Justice and National Integration. (Newswire)

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