Ex-President Ranil accuses Bribery Comm. of wilfully misleading court

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the submissions made with reference to him in court today by the Counsel for the Bribery Commission is a wilful misleading of the Court and that he is consulting his lawyers regarding the action to be taken. 

Issuing a statement today (16), the former President stated that the media reports highlighting submissions alleged to have been made in Court today by the Counsel for the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABIC) with reference to him, does not mention that the application to cancel bail already granted to MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake has been rejected by Court nor is any mention made of the fact that the Counsel for the accused objected to these submissions made by the Counsel for the Commission. 

Wickremesinghe stated that in his statement to the Commission on April 28, he stated that the spouse of Chamara Sampath consulted him as to whether his privileges had been violated by a statement made by Minister Samantha Vaidyaratne. 

“I stated that since I had given advice as a lawyer, I am not in a position to make any disclosures,” the former President said.  

Wickremesinghe said he referred the Commission to Articles 148, 149 and 150 of the Constitution, whereby the Parliament has full control over public finance and the funds of the Republic not allocated by law for specific purposes shall form one Consolidated Fund. 

He stated that monies cannot be withdrawn from the Fund except under the authority of a warrant under the hand of the Minister of Finance, and that therefore, monies held in the Fixed Deposit is a violation of the Constitution. 

“The said Circular is only a restatement of the law. A Circular by itself is not law. According to the law the proper course of action is to withdraw the Fixed Deposit and apply for such purposes authorised in the Provincial Budget.” 

“These submissions made in respect of me is a wilful misleading of the Court. I am consulting my lawyers as to action to be taken,” the ex-president revealed. 

Furthermore, Wickremesinghe said he has written to the Commission as to the manner in which the investigation was carried out by the CIABOC.

The complaint filed by the Bribery Commission against MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate today (May 16).

Dassanayake, who is currently in remand custody, was produced in court as proceedings resumed over allegations that he caused a loss of more than Rs. 1.76 billion to the government during his tenure as Chief Minister of the Uva Provincial Council.

Representing the Bribery Commission, an officer informed the court that Dassanayake had withdrawn funds from a fixed deposit account belonging to the Uva Provincial Council before its maturity, which allegedly resulted in a significant financial loss to the state.

Earlier, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a statement made to the media, had claimed that a Treasury circular issued in 2015, during his term as Prime Minister, allowed Provincial Councils to withdraw such fixed deposits prematurely. He had argued that Dassanayake’s actions were therefore not unlawful.

However, the Bribery Commission officials countered this claim in court today, noting that the said circular was issued on November 22, 2016, while the fund withdrawal in question took place on February 29, 2016 — several months before the circular came into effect.

The court was further informed that the Bribery Commission had summoned Wickremesinghe to record a statement, during which it was revealed that the former President had made his public remarks without knowledge of the actual date the circular was issued.

The officer conducting the investigation also said Wickremesinghe’s statement, made during a media conference, had adversely impacted the ongoing investigation.

It was also revealed in court that Wickremesinghe had made the statement in question at the request of MP Dassanayake’s wife. The investigating officer therefore requested the court to revoke Dassanayake’s bail and remand him on the grounds of attempting to interfere with the investigation.

However, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court rejected the request made by the Bribery Commission to revoke the bail granted to MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake.