7 June 2019 04:01 pm
MP Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa has written to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya about an imminent risk to national security.
In a letter, MP Rajapaksa said he was underscoring several points that required immediate attention in order to make sure that national security was secured.
The points were as follows:
1. Official Secrets Act 155 no.32 was in effect since September 01, 1955 and it was passed in order to ensure national security.
2. The second clause of the act has included the implementations to protect the institution, organisations, places which are considered to be necessary elements to ensure national security.
3. According to clause 7, it is prohibited to transmit security secret information and documents to anybody except Commander in Chief, IGP, commanders of tri-forces and Head of Intelligence.
4. Clause 8 underlines that it is an offence punishable under the Penal Code if such information and documents are received by a person who has no legal authority to do so.
5. According to clause 9, it is also an offence punishable under the Penal Code to keep such information or documents in a possession of someone who has no legal authority.
6. Clause 10 articulates that it is an offence punishable under the Penal Code to obtain such information or documents at the danger of national security.
7. Secret informants would be provided with passwords, codes, secret locations, information on security forces, photos, secret documents, plans and rough sketches under section 27 of the act.
8. If persons who have no legality obtained secret information, they would be subject to Rs. 200,000 or 14 years of imprisonment.
Parliament is not vested with powers under the Constitution to obtain or question such secret information.
10. Since there are pending five cases in connection to the Easter Sunday terror attack, the details in relation to the incident, can be discussed neither in Parliament nor in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) under the Sub Judice rule.
11. If any case, the exposition of these secret information would cost risk to the country in future, the Speaker should bear the full responsibility while the Government should also be held responsible.
12. The President as the Commander in Chief of the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has purposefully violated the articles 33(1)(a) and 38(2)(a)(i) of the Constitution.