Former Lankaputhra GM files FR case

18 July 2016 09:55 am

„„By Yohan Perera T h e F o r me r General Manager of Lankaputhra D e v e l o p m e n t Bank, Lasantha Amarasekera who was removed from his post, has filed a fundamental rights petition with the Supreme Courts. Sources close to Amarasekera said the hearing is set for July 27 2016. Amarasekera had stated that his fundamental rights were violated by the management of the Lankaputhra Development Bank by removing him from the post. He was removed from the post with effect from July 1 2016.

The respondents of the petition are Lankaputhra Bank Chairman Lasantha Goonawardena, Sri Lanka Monetary Board, Treasury Secretary, Secretary to Ministry of Public Enterprise Development and the Head of the Bank Supervision Department of the Central Bank. Amarasekera earlier said he was informed his termination was due to inefficiency, a charge he outrightly rejects.

But he said a difference of opinion between him and the Chairman Lasantha Gunawardene may have been the real reason. “There was a certain fraud with regard to a transaction of the bank and the internal auditors had already begun an investigation, which was backed by me.

However the other high ups of the bank had a different opinion and wanted the investigation stopped and, I strongly feel this could be the reason for my removal,” he added. Meanwhile Goonawardena who commented on the matter said the General Manager was terminated as he failed to reduce the non-performing loan percentage of the bank in the past years. “It has become impossible to recover loans given during the past few years with his endorsement,” Goonawardena said. He said that this has been revealed in a number of investigations carried out by a three-member committee appointed by the authorities and by the auditors of the bank. “There was no politics involved in the termination,” he stressed.