News
Transparency International Sri Lanka and journalist file FR petitions against appointment of CIABOC DG
View(s):By Ranjith Padmasiri
Two Fundamental Rights Petitions have been filed challenging the appointment of the present Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
One petition has been filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka and its Chairman Pulasthi Hewamanna while the other has been filed by journalist Ruwani Niwanthika Fonseka.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed Kanishka Wijerathne as the Bribery Commission’s DG last month on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council (CC). Mr Wijerathne was the CIABOC’s DG at the time of the enactment of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The Speaker and other members of the CC as well as members of CIABOC are among the respondents cited in the petitions.
The Petitioners argue that the appointment of Mr Wijerathne as DG of CIABOC is contrary to the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023 and has not been made following due process as required and contemplated by the law. They further claim that “an opaque, ambiguous and circuitous method” has been followed in making the said appointment without due consideration of the need to follow due reasonable process and/or in a manner that entails due transparency amongst other relevant requirements.
The Petitioners also state that they are reliably aware that the present DG only satisfies some and not all the statutory requirements as per the Anti-Corruption Act, and that he also does not satisfy all criteria stipulated in the advertisements published by Parliament calling for applications for the post.
For example, the Petitioners say they believe that he does not satisfy the criterion which requires one to be an Attorney-at-Law with at least 15 years of experience and sound knowledge in criminal prosecution, in the same manner as several of the other applicants to the position.
They further state that the opaque and/or circuitous manner in which the appointment was made “constitutes undue circumvention of the law and very intention of Parliament in enacting the Anti-Corruption Act.”
In the circumstances, the Petitioners are asking the court to grant leave to proceed for the petitions and to issue an interim order restraining Mr Wijerathne from functioning as the CIABOC’s DG until the hearing and final determination of the application.
Among other relief sought by the Petitioners is for the court to declare that the actions of one or more of the Respondents and/or the State have infringed their fundamental rights under Article 12(1) of the Constitution and to declare the recommendation made by the CC to appoint Mr Wijerathne as the DG of CIABOC as null and void.
The Petitioners have also sought an order from court directing the CC and/or the CIABOC to take steps to adopt clear, transparent guidelines on the selection and appointment of the Commission’s DG, and direct one or more of the Respondents to submit details of all the applicants who had applied for the post of the Bribery Commission DG as well as a list of the short-listed candidates. They have also asked the court to issue an order on the Respondents to submit the Minutes and/or Decisions of the CC in relation to the appointment of Mr Wijerathne as the DG of CIABOC.
Transparency International Sri Lanka is represented by Attorneys-at-Law Thilini Vidanagamage and Viran Corea, while Ms Fonseka is represented by Cooray & Cooray.
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