The much touted COPE report that dealt with the alleged Central Bank bond scam involving primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries in Feb 2015 couldn’t be the basis for the Attorney General’s Department decision whether to proceed with a criminal or civil case, authoritative sources said.
JVP National List MP Sunil Handunetti headed the COPE comprising members of all political parties represented in parliament.
Of course the report could be perused and taken into consideration but a decision couldn’t be made solely on it, sources told The Island.Recently President Maithripala Sirisena declared that he had called for criminal proceedings instead of civil case in respect of the alleged bond scam. The declaration was made on the basis that the AG had decided on a civil case after Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Office submitted the COPE report to the AG late last year. Last month, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, too, sent a copy of the report to the AG following the parliament reaching a consensus in respect of the report.
