JICA fund issue Colombo Law Society urges BASL office bearers to step down

1 June 2024 12:00 am Views - 277

The Colombo Law Society, the largest and the most elite  branch association attached to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL)  has unanimously passed a resolution urging BASL office bearers including  its President Kaushalya Nawaratne, PC to immediately step down from  their positions, pending the conduct of the inquiry regarding activities  involving the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the  BASL.  
The executive committee of the Colombo Law Society passed  this resolution at a special meeting convened on Thursday (30) to  discuss the widely publicized JICA funding issue of the BASL.  

The executive committee of the Colombo Law Society has  reportedly discussed this issue at length, and its members were of the  opinion that due procedure and transparency had been seriously lacking  in the manner BASL had handled the JICA funds.   


On May 18, BASL Bar Council appointed a  five-member-committee comprising Dr. K. Kanag-Isvaran PC, Dr. Faisz  Musthapha PC, lkram Mohamed PC, Rienzie Arsekularatne PC and Geoffrey  Alagaratnam PC to look into allegations pertaining to the BASL project  funded by the JICA relating to promotion of transparent and competitive  business climate (Anti-Corruption) in Sri Lanka, as a Committee of  Inquiry.