SC grants interim order in oil hedging case

(June 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the interim order cited in the fundamental rights petition on the oil hedging contracts filed by accountant and former PERC Chairman Nihal Sri Ameresekere.

The oil hedging deals were entered into by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and five banks, those being Standard Chartered, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Commercial Bank and People’s Bank. The interim order asks that the Controller of Exchange, the Director of Bank Supervision at the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Attorney General carry out investigations into the hedging agreements and to take action in terms of the applicable law against any persons found to have committed offences and/or aided and abetted therewith.

The bench, made up by Supreme Court Justices Shiranee Thilakawardene, P.A. Ratnayake and S.I. Imam, allowed the respondents, who were represented by their lawyers, until 7 July 2009 to submit additional documents by affidavit to the Court. Mr. Ameresekere will have one week thereafter to file his submissions.
-Sri Lanka Guardian