Secretary to the President Austin Fernando says he will seek the advice of the Attorney General on publicising the complete report compiled by the Presidential Commission Appointed to look into the Treasury Bond Transactions.
Speaking to media the President’s Secretary said a request was made by Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara under the Right to Information Act calling for him to produce all reports and documents produced by the Bond Commission through the Right to Information Officer at the Presidential Secretariat.
Fernando however stressed he does not have the authority to produce relevant documents and reports as per the advice of the Attorney General and the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery adding the authority to reach a decision on publicising the report and the documents lies with the Attorney General and the Director General of the Bribery Commission.
He said the response to MP Jayasekara’s inquiry will be produced in writing.
The Secretary to the President meanwhile noted he does not possess certain documents that were directly handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department.
Fernando stated the reports and the documents will only be publicised on the approval of the Attorney General.
The President’s Secretary said the report compiled by the Bond Commission does not include a list of names of individuals or companies that accepted money from Perpetual Treasuries Limited.
Austin Fernando said in order to confirm whether the report includes such a list of names he will have to evaluate the complete report claiming it is a complicated process.
The President’s Secretary also said he is unaware of how media institutions, critics and other concerned parties derived that the report contains a list of names of those who accepted money.
Furthermore he stressed several state bodies including the Department of the Attorney General and the CID are carrying out extensive investigations into the incident adding based on the information gathered during investigations certain individuals will have to be summoned for questioning.
