Official records show that Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) former administration spent more than Rs. 681 million on legal fees and related expenses between 2023 and 2025, according to payment vouchers reviewed by The Sunday Times.
The documents show legal expenditure of Rs. 681,171,261.89, comprising Rs. 264.6 million in 2023, Rs. 250.5 million in 2024 and Rs. 166 million in 2025. The spending covered not only high-profile court cases but also commercial legal advice, contract drafting, procurement, governance reforms, government inquiries, arbitration, employment disputes and hundreds of smaller legal matters.
Much of the expenditure arose from prolonged litigation between SLC and former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, whose attempt to dissolve the Executive Committee in 2023 sparked a series of court battles. Matters connected to Ranasinghe—including writ applications, Supreme Court proceedings and related litigation—cost approximately Rs. 220 million. The largest single case was Shammi Silva v. Roshan Ranasinghe (CA Writ 685/2023), which generated legal fees exceeding Rs. 47 million.
In 2025, K. Mathivanan v. Sri Lanka Cricket (SC/FR/103/2025) became the year’s costliest case, producing legal fees of almost Rs. 32 million, despite overall legal spending falling from the previous two years. On one reporting date alone, SLC paid more than Rs. 25 million in counsel’s fees connected to that case.
The records also show approximately Rs. 82 million spent on defamation and civil actions against media organisations, journalists and former cricket officials. The current administration has since withdrawn many of those cases.
Beyond litigation, SLC spent millions on media rights and sponsorship agreements, governance reforms, legal opinions, procurement, tax advice, arbitration, Labour Tribunal matters, election administration and representation before investigative agencies. While the headline court battles attracted public attention, they account for only part of the Rs. 681 million, which reflects the cumulative cost of legal services and related disbursements over the three-year period.
Sri Lanka Cricket Legal Expenditure (2023–2025)
Across the 2023, 2024, and 2025 reporting years, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recorded total legal expenditure of LKR 681,171,261.89, comprising:
- 2023: LKR 264,641,894.47
- 2024: LKR 250,524,626.92
- 2025: LKR 166,004,740.50
The total of LKR 681.17 million represents all legal-related transactions recorded in SLC’s legal ledger, including litigation, legal advisory services, commercial drafting, investigations, settlements, procurement advice, election-related legal work, intellectual property matters, administrative expenses, and numerous smaller payments. The major court cases listed below account for only part of the overall expenditure.
I. Major Writ and Supreme Court Litigation
| Matter | Total Expenditure (LKR) |
|---|---|
| Shammi Silva v. Roshan Ranasinghe (CA Writ 685/2023) | 47,106,000 |
| SLC v. Minister of Sports (CA Writ 521/2023 & 571/2023) | 36,115,994 |
| K. Mathivanan v. SLC (SC/FR/103/2025) | 31,966,666 |
| Supreme Court Special Leave Applications (SLA 96, 97 & 98/2023) | 22,166,667 |
| Wickramaratne v. Roshan Ranasinghe (CA Writ 717/2023) | 18,150,000 |
| Michael Tissera / Sidath Wettamuny v. SLC (CA Writ 460/2020) | 17,606,166 |
| SLC v. Minister of Sports & Secretary (CA Writ 27/2023) | 16,500,000 |
These proceedings primarily concerned ministerial intervention, governance disputes, and constitutional issues.
II. Civil, Defamation and Right to Information Matters
| Matter | Total Expenditure (LKR) |
|---|---|
| Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Hiru TV) v. SLC | 22,156,665 |
| Hesha Vithanage defamation cases | ~21,500,000 |
| SLC v. Roshan Ranasinghe (DC Kaduwela & DMR matters) | ~18,300,000 |
| SLC v. Naushad Amit / Wijeya Newspapers (RTI Appeal) | 16,049,996 |
| Arjuna Ranatunga civil and defamation matters | ~14,500,000 |
| Media Group defamation litigation (Upali, Silumina, Wijeya) | ~28,200,000 |
| DMR 511/2025 (SLC v. Roshan Ranasinghe) | ~5,500,000* |
*Includes a credit adjustment of LKR 1,425,000 during 2025.
III. Employment, Labour Tribunal and Settlement Matters
These included litigation costs, settlements and legal representation for employment disputes.
- L.A.S.S. Weerasinghe settlement – LKR 9.5 million
- Shane Roshan Dullewe settlement – LKR 3 million
- Gayathri Wickramasinghe (LT 13/52/2016) – approximately LKR 1.27 million
- Sanath Jayasundara (LT 13/79/2021) – approximately LKR 3.1 million
- R.M. Tikiribanda settlement – LKR 750,000
In addition, the legal ledger records numerous recurring appearance fees in Labour Tribunal proceedings involving employees including S. Fernando, P. Jinaratne, Prasanna Jinaratne, Anura Weerasinghe and others. Individually these matters were relatively small but collectively contributed significantly to legal expenditure over three years.
IV. Commercial Legal Services, Contracts and Procurement
A substantial proportion of expenditure related to commercial legal work rather than litigation.
Commercial tenders
- International Media Rights Tender (2023–2027) – LKR 7,216,700
- Ground Sponsorship Tender (2023–2027) – LKR 5,935,000
- Broadcasting Tender (2023–2027) – LKR 3,500,000
- Tender No. SLC/ADM/046/2023 (Operational) – LKR 13,450,000
Governance and regulatory work
- Drafting New Sports Regulations – LKR 4,500,000
- Governance and Financial Oversight reforms – LKR 4,583,333
- Review and advice on the Cricket Constitution – approximately LKR 2.2 million
- Advice relating to the National Audit Act – approximately LKR 1.25 million
Contract drafting and commercial advice
Professional fees were also incurred for:
- sponsorship agreements covering bottled water, energy drinks, carbonated beverages, clothing and healthcare;
- commercial contract reviews;
- procurement documentation;
- nominated contractor advice for RPICS indoor nets;
- ground rights documentation;
- acquisition of land adjoining RDICS;
- purchase of gym equipment from Sahithra (Pvt) Ltd.
Collectively, commercial drafting, procurement advice and sponsorship-related legal work accounted for tens of millions of rupees over the reporting period.
V. Government Inquiries, Arbitration and Advisory Services
SLC also incurred substantial expenditure on legal representation outside the courts.
Government investigations
Counsel represented SLC and its officials before:
- the Special Investigation Unit (SIU);
- the Criminal Investigation Department (CID);
- the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC);
- Cabinet Subcommittee proceedings;
- parliamentary Ethics Committee matters.
Representation involved numerous appearances, opinions and consultations, with fees ranging from relatively small appearance charges to major advisory retainers.
Arbitration
- SEC SL arbitration – approximately LKR 6.4 million
- Chandika Hathurusinghe CAS arbitration filing costs – LKR 1,809,314.10
Taxation
The Indian taxation dispute arising from the Nidahas Trophy generated legal expenditure of approximately LKR 15.08 million, including overseas legal counsel and travel expenses.
VI. Administrative, Electoral and Intellectual Property Costs
The legal ledger also records numerous administrative legal expenses, including:
Election administration
- Election Committee honoraria – LKR 4.8 million
- Election Committee travel and transport – LKR 150,000
Intellectual property
- Trademark applications for the SLC logo across Classes 16, 25, 28, 41 and 45 – LKR 757,930
Administrative legal expenses
- Stamp duty and notarial fees for lease agreements – LKR 876,639
- Air travel for overseas legal representation
- Courier and document delivery expenses
- Stenographers
- Filing fees
- Court proceeding charges
- Certified copies
- Postage
- Miscellaneous registry fees
Although many individual transactions were modest—some amounting to only a few hundred rupees—they occurred frequently throughout the three-year period.
VII. Numerous Smaller Legal Matters
The legal ledger records hundreds of additional legal transactions beyond the headline litigation, including:
- provincial cricket association disputes;
- Right to Information Commission proceedings;
- Transparency International-related RTI matters;
- employment and disciplinary hearings;
- legal opinions requested by the Executive Committee;
- procurement reviews;
- contract negotiations;
- governance advice;
- constitutional interpretation;
- recurring court appearances;
- legal consultations;
- year-end accounting adjustments, including over- and under-provisions.
These matters generated a large number of individual invoices which, although comparatively small in value, collectively represent a significant component of SLC’s legal expenditure.
