• There will be no further disciplinary action
•  BASL counting on act. president
•  The Bar Council is yet to appoint a president
•   Bar Council to meet on 28 Sept.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) will not seek legal action against its former President Kaushalya Nawarathne following the association’s statement of unfounded allegations against the former president.

“There will be no disciplinary action taken by the Bar Association towards Mr. Nawarathne,” BASL Secretary Chathura Galhena, told The Daily Morning yesterday (15) in response to a question on future steps regarding Nawarathne. “We have just accepted his resignation. That will be all. We will not proceed any further on the matter.” 

Galhena further stated that the Bar Association has not yet appointed a president and will be continuing to rely on the acting president as for now.

“The appointment of a new president has to be done by the Bar Council,” Galhena said. “The Bar Council will meet on 28 September, however until then, we will be relying on the acting president to fulfil the relevant roles and duties.”

Former Bar Association President Kaushalya Nawarathne resigned from his role as President on 13 September after a five-member special committee ended an investigation into a project with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The special committee report concluded that Nawarathne failed to act with transparency and breached the trust vested in him as the BASL President. When the report was released, Nawarathne charged that there was a politically motivated vocal minority within the BASL backed by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who wanted him out, as he “did not encourage holding placards and campaigning for political causes”.