Former Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former Director General of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka – Jayantha Edirisinghe, were served indictments today (June 30) before the Colombo High Court.

The indictments, filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), allege that the two individuals caused a loss of over Rs. 1.7 million to the government.

The alleged offence relates to the use of BOI funds for newspaper advertisements published for the second anniversary of the inauguration of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014.

The indictments were formally presented to the accused before Colombo High Court Judge Pradeep Abeyratne.

Following the submission of indictments, the defendants were granted bail.

Jayne Howell has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

She succeeds Doug Sonnek, whose tenure in Sri Lanka ended recently.

Jayne Howell is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.

Jayne has extensive overseas experience, including recent postings as Minister-Counselor for Consular Affairs (MCCA) in both Pakistan and Türkiye, where she served as the Ambassador’s senior advisor on immigration and visa policy as well as coordinated countrywide services for the thousands of American citizens visiting those countries each year. Jayne also worked as the Consular Section Chief in Accra, Ghana; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Kabul, Afghanistan.

In Washington, Jayne has served in several senior leadership roles in the Bureau of Consular Affairs including Deputy Executive Director, Supervisory Regional Consular Officer, and inaugural Director of 1CA, the Bureau’s leadership and management excellence program. For her work in 1CA, Jayne received the Department of State’s Luther I. Replogle Award for Management Improvement.

Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Jayne holds a B.A. in Archaeological Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Outside of work, Jayne is a passionate explorer of ancient and historical sites, goes deep-sea fishing whenever she can, and tries to learn to cook a traditional dish from every country she visits.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled that several clauses in the proposed Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill are inconsistent with the Constitution.

The determination, delivered to Parliament and announced by Deputy Speaker Dr. Rizvie Salih, follows petitions filed under Article 121(1) of the Constitution challenging the bill’s legality.

According to the Deputy Speaker, the Court determined that these provisions would require approval by a special majority in Parliament as well as a public referendum in order to be enacted in their current form.

The Deputy Speaker also  ordered that the full Supreme Court determination be included in the official parliamentary record of the day’s proceedings.

Key findings from the Supreme Court include:

Clause 8(2) shall be amended suitably to provide that the members of the committee referred to therein shall be liable under the anti-corruption act  N0.9 of 2023.

Clause 13 (1) (c) is violative of article 3 of the constitution, and requires it to be passed by a special majority of parliament, and be approved by the people at a referendum. However, the said violation shall cease if this clause is amended as set out in the summary of the determination of the Supreme Court.

Clause 13 (1) (b) is vague and arbitrary as it does not contain any provision relating to the transfer of employees and their right as employees during the second stage of unbundling. Therefore the clause is violative of article 12 (1) read with article 14 (1) (g) of the constitution. And this clause shall only be passed by the special majority required under article 84 (2). The said violation shall cease if this clause is amended as set out in the summary of the determination of the Supreme Court.

Clause 13 (12), is in violation of articles 12 (1) and 14 (1) (g) of the constitution. The said violation  shall cease if this clause is amended as set out in the summary of the determination of the Supreme Court.