Attorney-at-Law Shanika Abeywickrama in a letter to the Daily News clarified the news item titled “Illegally Obtaining Electricity-Case Against Former LITRO GAS Chairman”, carried on the October 17, 2017 Daily News issue.
The letter: “I write on the instructions of my client Mr. Shalila Moonasinghe of Etulkotte. I am instructed that the aforesaid heading in the said article is defamatory per se and by innuendo and I am instructed that the said heading in the said article which attempt to portrait through the heading is absolutely false and distortion of the truth. The electricity meter fixed at the premises at No.941/12B, 6th Lane Ethulkotte had been faulty on many instances and therefore many complaints were made to LECO by my client, the tenants that occupied the said premises and also the meter reader.
First of such complaints was in the year 2010 by the tent of my client, who was occupying the said premises in the year 2009 and 2010 and responding to above complaint, the technicians of LECO had examined the said meter and even a test meter had been fixed consequent to the said inspection.
Thereafter, in November 2013, the Meter Reader and my client both made complaints regarding a fault in the meter.
Responding to the above complaints, a team of technicians of LECO had visited the said premises and the said technicians after an examination of the said meter had been of the view that the said meter is in order.
However, my client and the meter reader had not been satisfied with the said finding since the meter had been functioning properly and therefore further complaints had been made my client and the meter reader regarding the meter and the bills. Therefore, another team of technicians have visited the said premises in February 2014 and thereafter examining the meter had alleged that my client has tempered with the wiring of the meter but the documents issued by both the teams of technicians that visited the said premises in November 2013 and February 2014 clearly indicate that the seal of LECO in the said meter are intact. Despite the above, LECO together with the Welikada police proceeded to institute action in the Magistrate’s court of Colombo against my client is contesting as he has done no wrong and is in possession of evidence to prove that the allegations are false.