The New Chairman of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation will be Pradeepa Kariyawasam, Treasury Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe said yesterday.

"He is a professional in the field of business management with several years of experience in the private sector," Abeysinghe told The Island.

The Supreme Court yesterday accepted the government’s nominations for the new Board of Directors.

The other members of the board are: Anura Meddegoda, a lawyer formerly attached to the Attorney General’s Department, R.A. Jayatissa, a former Central Banker who also served in the capacity of Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Chithral Amaratunga, a lawyer, former CEO of SLIC Nalaka Godahewa, an engineer with experience in the field of business management, Ravi Abeysuriya, an investment analyst and A.P. Lekamge, a professional in business management.  

The Supreme Court declared the sale of SLIC to Distilleries Company of

Kariyawasam...

Sri Lanka null and void calling the deal illegal, unlawful and unethical.

The government resumed control of SLIC and had to return Rs. 6 billion to Distilleries, which it did by issuing 5 year Treasury bonds.

Nihal Sri Ameresekere, former Chairman of the Public Enterprises Reform Commission, and Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Advisor to the President, were responsible for taking the privatization deal before the Supreme Court.

According to them, the case exposed how politicians, public officials and businessmen connived to fleece the public.

Abdeen Associates, on behalf of Nanayakkara, have sent letters of demand to the IGP, CID, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Controller of Exchange to investigate and prosecute those involved in the fraudulent deal.

Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva last week said he was unsure whether the government would push for investigations and prosecution of wrongdoers under the Penal Code while Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Deputy Finance Minister, conceded that State-run institutions continued to steal from public coffers.