Supreme Court Rules Keheliya Rambukwella and Officials Violated Fundamental Rights; Rs. 275M Penalties Imposed

⭕ 🇱🇰 Supreme Court held Keheliya Rambukwella and four senior health officials violated the public’s fundamental rights in procurement under the 2022 🇮🇳 Indian Credit Line.

⭕ Petition filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka and Executive Director Ashala Nadishani Perera

⭕ The petition said the rights affected were those of the petitioners and the wider general public, citing equal protection of the law, access to information, misuse of public funds, and risk to public health.

⭕ The procurement challenge centered on supplies from unregistered private firms, including Savorite Pharmaceuticals and Kausikh Therapeutics, outside standard regulatory and procurement procedures.

“They knew there was no shortage of medicines… knew the supplier was unregistered… and knew they were acting contrary to procurement laws — yet proceeded to facilitate the illegal importation of questionable drugs.”

⭕ Court ordered the following individuals to pay:

▪️ Keheliya Rambukwella, former Minister of Health — Rs. 75M

▪️Janaka Chandragupta, former Secretary to the Ministry of Health — Rs. 50M

▪️Prof. S.D. Jayaratne, former Chairman of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation — Rs. 50M

▪️ Dr. Vijith Gunasekera, former Director General of Health Services — Rs. 50M

▪️ Dr. Thushitha Sudarshana, former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Health — Rs. 50M

#SriLanka