Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation:

New Directors appointed

Wasantha RAMANAYAKE

In a bid to strengthen the insurance sector in the country and to streamline insurance for the benefit of citizens, President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday appointed a high calibre Board of Directors to the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) that comprises top professionals in both the State and private sector, said a press release issued by the Government Information Department.

The seven-member board comprises top calibre professionals ranging from Economists, Chartered Accountants, Investment Analysts, Legal Experts, Chartered Marketers and Management Consultants to induce more vigor into the SLIC administration.

Earlier, the Supreme Court yesterday approved the names of seven persons to be appointed to the Board of SLIC.

Pradeep G.S. Kariyawasam, Anura Bandara Meddegoda, R.A. Jayatissa, Chitral Amaratunga, Nalaka Godahewa, Ravi Abeysuriya and A.P. Lekamge were duly approved by Court to be appointed to the SLIC Board. Deputy Solicitor General Sanjay Rajaratnam on behalf of the Treasury Secretary tendered the list to the Court.

The Deputy Solicitor General submitted that Pradeep G.S. Kariyawasam would be appointed as the Chairman while there was a strong likelihood that the current Competent Authority Nalaka Godahewa would be appointed as the Manging Director. However, he said that it was a matter to be decided by the Board.

The Deputy Solicitor General submitted that all the persons were professionally qualified according to guidelines of the Supreme Court Judgment in SLIC privatization and added that the President in his capacity as the Finance Minister had approved the names.

Justice Amaratunga noted that the outsourcing of the SLIC database to a private company would be a plain and simple robbery of the public funds. However he cautioned that there should be limit to the siphoning off of the public funds.

However, the Court did not make any order on the manging of the SLIC database by a company.

The Court made these observations when the Deputy Solicitor General submitted that the SLIC database was outsourced to a private company and the agreement had been signed for six months.

He submitted that the new board would make a decision on the issue. Earlier, 13th respondent Nihal Sri Amarasekera submitted that the SLIC data was handled by a private company and added that there was a danger of these data being manipulated.

The Deputy Solicitor General informed Court that the investigation into the vehicle load of files detained by Police revealed that they belonged to a company connected to the previous regime and did not belong to the SLIC. He informed Court that the vehicle had been released to its owner on a magisterial order.

Court also noted that that all authorities including the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Controller of Exchange may act according to the law in bringing the offenders of the SLIC privatization to book.

The Deputy Solicitor General undertook to inform the Auditor General to carry out an independent audit into the accounts of the SLIC from the date of its privatization in 2003 until the delivery of the judgment on June 4.

The Court earlier delivering the judgment in the rights application against the privatization of the SLIC, granted time till yesterday to the Treasury Secretary to nominate competent persons for the approval of the Court to be appointed as the Chairman and Directors to the SLIC Board.

The Supreme Court on June 4 delivering the judgment had annulled the multi - billion rupee privatization of the country’s State owned insurance giant in 2003.

Petitioners Vasudeva Nanayakkara and two employees R. Sarath Nandalal and Ariyawanse Bandaranayake complained to Court that the privatization of SLIC lacked any transparency, tainted with irregularities in the process causing massive losses to the Government and the public. 

The petitioners cited 38 respondents including former Finance Minister K.N. Choksy, former Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda, former Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Ltd. Milford Holdings Ltd. Greenfield Pacific EM Holdings Ltd. D.H.S. Jayawardane and the Attorney General.

M.A.. Sumanthiran with Viran Corea instructed by Abdeen Associates appeared for the petitioner Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

Deputy Solicitor General S. Rajaratnam appeared for the Attorney General.