COLOMBO (News 1st); The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Monday (18) has requested the government to implement the recommendations made by the Auditor General with regard to the special investigation on the Sugar Tax Scam.Chairman of the HRCSL Retired Supreme Court Judge Rohini Marasinghe in a statement to News 1st said that the unreasonable and arbitrary use of state power can violate the rights of Sri Lankan Citizens, and therefore the recommendations need to be implemented.Special Audit Investigation.The National Audit Office, in a recent report, has recommended that the government immediately recover the revenue due to the state, lost by slashing taxes imposed on imported Sugar.The report recommends monies be recovered from importers who made huge profits as a result of the tax cut.Dubbed the infamous ‘Sugar Scam’ in Sri Lanka, it was alleged that it did not benefit consumers but massively benefited the importers gain unconscionable profits.The recommendation was made after the National Audit Office conducted a ‘special audit’ to determine why the tax reduction did not benefit consumers.What happened- A flashback.The National Audit Office investigated the reduction of the special commodity levy imposed on imported sugar from Rs.
50/- per kilogram to Rs. 0.25/- per kilogram, a move that was supposed to benefit consumers already struggling with a Covid-induced economic downturn.On 13th October 2020, the tax for sugar imports was brought down from Rs.
50 to 25 cents (per kg), as per a directive by the Government.The special audit revealed that within four months of reducing the tax (14th October 2020 to 8th February 2021) the government was deprived of tax revenue of a whopping Rs.