Former President Ranil Wickremesinghes office has actually released a statement, claiming that the former President did not issue any liquor licenses in violation of the rules and guidelines of the Excise Department.The declaration further highlighted that the government has received an income of over Rs.
3.1 billion during the very first nine months of this year through the new alcohol licenses issued during Wickremesinghes tenure as the President.The declaration mentioned that the authenticity of the treatment followed in giving the alcohol licenses was verified through the recommendations made in the letter forwarded by the Election Commission to the Commissioner General of Excise on the 19 August 2024.
It even more highlights that the incumbent Cabinet of Ministers has the power to renew or revoke these official revenue-generating alcohol licenses.The statement was issued in action to the accusations made in Parliament by Leader of your home Minister Bimal Rathnayake that the former President has released liquor licenses as political bribes.Addressing the Parliament just recently, Minister Bimal Rathnayake divulged that previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe has actually provided 361 liquor vendor licenses alleging that 172 of them were approved as political bribes.A total of 361 permits have actually been issued given that January.
Amongst these are 172 red wine shop allows.
We believe that these licences were provided as political allurements by previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe to attract MPs to change celebrations, Rathnayake stated while addressing the Parliament.Meanwhile on November 20, a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition was filed with the Supreme Court seeking an order that the fundamental human rights have actually been broken through the choice by the participants consisting of previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe to release alcohol licenses in violation of the Excise Act after the 2024 Presidential Election was announced.The petitioners alleged that these licenses have been released with the goal of acquiring assistance in the Presidential Election and that they have actually been released in an arbitrary and unjust manner by avoiding the provisions of the Excise Act.