President appoints Commission of Inquiry to probe bond scam

President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on the Central Bank bond issue, a short while ago.

Respected judges of the Supreme Court K.T. Chithrasiri, P.S. Jayawardena and Rtd. Deputy Auditor General K. Velupillai have been appointed as members of the CoI.

The President had announced on Saturday (22) that he would appoint a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry this week to investigate the Central Bank bond issue and recommend actions.

The parliamentary debate on the report of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding the controversial bond issue, commenced on Wednesday (25) while it was forwarded the Attorney General the same day. 

The special COPE report was presented to the Parliament by the Chairman of the Committee On Public Enterprises MP Sunil Handunnetti on October 28, 2016. 

The 55-page COPE report recommends that former Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran should be held directly responsible over the bond transaction and that legal action should be taken against him and responsible individuals.  

The report also observed financial irregularities in the Central Bank bond issue and recommended to recover the losses incurred from those involved.