It was the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party's founder, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who famously referred to the "exploitation of man by man" as one of the curses of his time. Years later, with the commanding heights of the economy in the hands of the Government, the drafters of the Constitution now in force, went one step further and inscribed the following words; "The State shall eliminate economic and social privilege and disparity, and the exploitation of man by man or by the State".

This week, the Supreme Court gave tangible meaning to those words with an order to the State to stop exploiting the public under whatever guise or ruse.

The Court held that charging as much as 180% (Rs. 73) by way of Government and fiscal levies, in addition to the actual price of petrol is prima facie "unreasonable and arbitrary", and said the "illegal" hedging deal engaged by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was partly to blame for this price-fixing at the expense of the public. The court held that it was "just and equitable" for the public to derive the benefits of world market prices in oil coming down. That was its legal explanation to what the Government is now saying is purely a tax issue which is its - and the Parliament's - prerogative.

The Government's stubborn reaction to the court order is there for all to see - with long queues outside filling stations, probably hoping the wrath of the public would be directed towards the court.

Our news desk gives the current state of play on the ground, and our Political Editor comments on the fallout of the Court order and the reaction of the Government, while our legal analyst (Page 14) draws a dangerous comparison with the recent events in Pakistan which saw the country plunge into virtual anarchy when the Executive took on the Judiciary.

What the Court has given is an interim order - and interim relief to the public. The Government can of course state its case by filing objections early next year, and there is no need to panic at this stage.

A public debate no doubt will now ensue. Is it within a Government's sole right to impose taxes and levies at its whim and fancy? Can it act arbitrarily - like in the hedging fiasco -- and take no action on the wrongdoers until the Supreme Court intervened? Or is the Government not subject to public policy issues? Is it not supposed to stop the 'exploitation of man by State'? Can it simply keep repeating the 'war to be fought' mantra for all its sins? Does it not have to make sacrifices itself? These are but some of the questions that will be thrown at the Government by the public.

To say that petrol is used only by the rich, and therefore to justify the exorbitant taxes and levies imposed is both unfair and untrue. Those who use petrol include trishaws - both driver and passenger; motorcycles and mo-peds; and re-conditioned cars which are not the vehicles of the wealthy.

On the other hand, it is the members of the out-sized Cabinet and favourite bureaucrats that ride in limousines with escort vehicles for which the public also has to pay in addition to the fuel for their own vehicles. The Government has been importing bullet-proof and other fuel-guzzling vehicles in recent months, the most recent being for a three day SAARC summit.

One will not talk of the fuel consumed by tanks and fighter jets fighting the terrorists, because that is war that has to be waged. But chasing good money after bad, the Government has dumped Rs. 6 billion into a Rs. 4 billion loss-making budget airline. Much of the loss is for un-paid avtur - or aviation fuel. Who is footing this bill? The already economically battered public is.

If the Government must find the money to fight the terrorists, it can openly impose a War Levy or a National Defence Levy, as has been done before. But the public must know. It must be transparent. A Government can't collect revenue in a surreptitious manner as it is doing with the petrol prices. A levy must be properly accounted for - and accounts presented back to the public through Parliament.

What has come to light in recent months has been the Government's efforts to what in the language of the common man is known as 'roll karanawa', or using the monies from one account to fund another in difficulty. This process is alright temporarily, but naturally cannot go on for ever.

Recently, when the Tea Board bravely said it would purchase unsold teas from the tea auctions from its cess fund, the Treasury was unable to give it the cheque. Nobody really knows how the tourism cess monies are spent. No wonder that the Treasury has been reluctant to take any action on the Auditor General's reports, and the parliamentary reports on public accounts and public enterprises. The entire auditing of the public purse seems to cast serious doubts on how public money is being spent.

Now, with the latest Supreme Court order, there is serious doubt on how the money is collected.