Transparency International challenges National Audit (Amendment) Bill in SC

THE Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) yesterday filed legal action in the Supreme Court challenging the National Audit (Amendment) Bill which was published in the gazette on 23 June 2025.

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The Bill is to amend the National Audit Act No. 19 of 2018. The petition has been filed in public interest.

TISL said the National Audit Act is one of the key legislative tools to uphold financial accountability and combat corruption within the public sector. It empowers the Auditor-General to audit public institutions and hold officials accountable for misuse or mismanagement of public funds. This is done particularly through its provisions on imposing surcharges as penalties. Surcharge is designed to ensure that public officers are accountable for losses or mismanagement of public resources due to fraud, negligence, misappropriation, or corruption. In the proposed amendment, there are several provisions that weaken this framework and risk undermining the independence, authority, and effectiveness of the public auditing process.