Following the files belonging to him being taken into Police custody on Wednesday (1), Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake yesterday (2) claimed that the documents hold no value to the Police as they are too technical for their comprehension. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Ratnayake said: “These (the documents taken) are my copies of technical board papers for the last two years. I feel embarrassed for and pity the Police because the Police will not understand the technical jargon. They will go through them and return them.” 

The documents were taken by the Police after removing the seal they had placed on his office on 16 February as per a court order issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate.

The Colombo Fort Magistrate had issued this order after the Kollupitiya Police reported facts to the court that the Police had received a complaint alleging that a group of individuals from the Kollupitiya area were preparing to arrive and destroy important documents from within the Chairman’s office.

At the time, Ratnayake was overseas, and it was reported that the relevant office would only be re-opened upon his return to Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, although the Chairman was back in Sri Lanka and had arrived at his office on Tuesday (28 February), the Police had not taken steps to remove the seal on the office. The office was later opened in Ratnayake’s presence.

Later, the documents and files of the office were subjected to a complete inspection by Scene of Crime Officers and officers of the Technology Department of the Kollupitiya Police.

Ratnayake was the lone dissenter in the PUCSL membership’s recent decision to approve the Ceylon Electricity Board’s Cabinet of Ministers-approved electricity tariff hike. He has claimed that he will file belated legal action against the said hike.