On 6th September, SJB MP S. M. Marikkar had alleged in parliament that the government is preparing to pay a pension to the former Central Bank (CBSL) Governor Arjun Mahendran, against whom a warrant has been issued in relation to the CBSL treasury bonds scam. MP Marikkar had claimed that the State Minister and former CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has pushed to pay pensions to former CBSL Governors. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/kp7nsbaw. What has given rise to this seems to be the report by the Sunday Times on 5th September, which stated that the Monetary Board (MB) has approved pensions with arrears for several former and the incumbent Governor of the CBSL, irrespective of the lengths of their tenures (other public sector employees require at least 10 years of service to qualify, the only exception is Members of Parliament who receive a pension after five years). The Sunday Times had reported that the MB’s decision follows requests from Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who was CBSL Governor from July 2006 to January 2015. The CBSL Corporate Management Committee consisting of all Deputy Governors and Assistant Governors—chaired by the incumbent Governor W. D. Lakshman had submitted a recommendation to the MB and the Board, also chaired by Governor Lakshman. The MB had approved the proposal while suspending it for Mr. Mahendran. The Sunday Times had filed a Right to Information request asking whether the MB had decided to make all previous Governors eligible for pension benefits. The CBSL had replied: “The Monetary Board has not taken any decision to make all previous Governors eligible for pension benefits recently.” This was “technically correct”, insiders said, pointing out that former Governor Arjuna Mahendran is likely to be exempted as he is embroiled in legal proceedings. If he is cleared in future, he is also likely to receive a lifetime pension despite having served CBSL from 2015-2018. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/yu4bn28w. Issuing a press release on 5th September, the Media Secretary to the State Ministry of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms clarified that Ajith Nivaard Cabraal (now the State Minister of the said Ministry) was entitled to a pension as per his CBSL appointment letter. It further stated that State Minister Cabraal has "never pushed for pensions for other CB governors"- https://island.lk/state-ministry-responds-to-news-report/. Full press release is attached under "Evidence".