• Says will explain themselves when the time comes 

Former President and Prime Minister and incumbent Government Parliamentarian attorney Mahinda Rajapaksa was seen expressing contradictory views on the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling which held that he and several others are responsible for the country’s economic crisis.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday (15) in Rambukkana, he said that they would always respect the ruling delivered by the Judiciary. “We cannot go against the Judiciary, and I, being a lawyer, cannot do it at all. So we respect the ruling delivered by the SC. We will always stand for the people.”

However, speaking to the media in Kandy on the same day, he said that he did not accept the SC ruling in question. “I don’t accept it. There will be a time for us to make explanations with regard to it. We will do it then.”

The SC on Tuesday (14) ruled that Mahinda Rajapaksa, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governors Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Emeritus Prof. W.D. Lakshman, former Finance Ministry and Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle, former Presidential Secretary P.B. Jayasundara, and former CBSL Monetary Board members are responsible for the economic crisis that Sri Lanka is grappling with.

The ruling was delivered based on the majority view of the five-judge bench (four-one) presided over by Chief Justice President’s Counsel Jayantha Jayasuriya in connection with two fundamental rights petitions filed by former Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Head Chandra Jayaratne and several others seeking an investigation into those responsible for the economic crisis.