News
Special Presidential Commission to probe corruption
President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed Supreme Court Justice Priyasath Dep to head a Commission of Inquiry to look into corruption and misuse of power under the previous regime. The other members of the commission are Supreme Court Judge Anil Gunaratne, High Court Judge Gihan Kulathunge, retired Auditor General Sarath Mayadunne and retired Additional Solicitor General Aiyathurei Gnanadasan. The terms of reference of the commission are likely to be made known next week.
This commission will function in addition to the anti-corruption committee headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
This commission has been tasked with looking into matters including illegal acquisition of lands, irregularities in the Colombo Stock Exchange and the handling of money in the Employees’ Provident Fund.’
President Sirisena told a public rally this week that the people were growing impatient with the slow pace of investigations into alleged corruption by former VIPs. He said he would be appointing a presidential commission to deal with the issue. Under his 100-day programme, too, the President promised the establishment of a strong anti-corruption commission “capable of finding our technical, managerial and financial corruption without any political interference.”