Dr. Athulasiri Kumara Samarakoon & Others vs. Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe & Others (Economic Crisis Case) – SC FR NO. 195/2022-2023

In the cases of Dr. Athulasiri Kumara Samarakoon and others, and Chandra Jayaratne and others (including Transparency International Sri Lanka) v. Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe and others, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka considered whether executive and administrative inaction or decisions regarding tax policy, public finance management, foreign reserves, exchange rate regulation, and delays in seeking IMF assistance from 2019–2022 resulted in violations of fundamental rights and breaches of public trust amidst the economic crisis. It was held that multiple key respondents—including former Finance Ministers, the Monetary Board, Central Bank Governors, and senior secretaries—acted arbitrarily and without rational basis, violating constitutional guarantees of equal protection and the doctrine of p