Power Ministry Secretary called on to prevent high spending on private lawyers

By Ifham Nizam

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) has informed Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardane, Secretary, Ministry of Power and Energy, to intervene to prevent the spending millions of rupees as legal fees on private legal counsellors.

A senior electrical engineer told The Island Financial Review that it is a violation of government restrictions to spend in this manner to cover up management blunders.

The Union pointed to the Power and Energy Ministry letter dated February 01, 2023, conveying a Cabinet Decision 23/0199/601/099, dated January 31, 2023 in relation to this issue.

“This decision explicitly instructed all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to exclusively retain the services of lawyers from the Attorney General’s Department, who the Cabinet says are specially trained and experienced to represent the SOEs in legal matters, the senior engineer said.

He added: “We informed the Secretary that the rationale behind this directive was to curtail high and unnecessary expenditure on private legal services.

“Additionally, the decision mandated that any retention of private lawyers must first secure the agreement of the Honorable Attorney General and obtain approval from the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, following a detailed submission outlining the case and expected legal fees.”

The said Cabinet Decision (which was based on a submission made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe himself) clearly states that in case any SOE fails to adhere to the given Cabinet decision but continues to spend government money on private lawyers, such legal fees be recovered from the private funds of the officer concerned.

‘Regrettably, despite the explicit directives outlined in the Cabinet Decision, we must bring to your attention the ongoing malpractice within the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The CEB continues to engage expensive private lawyers of their own free will, not only to defend against legal actions but also to pursue cases initiated by the CEB, some of which serve the personal agendas of management, the decision states.