Mahendran denied a fair trial: Kiriella

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Senior Government Minister Lakshman Kiriella once again came out strongly to defend controversial ex-CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran saying that the media ruled him guilty when the Supreme Court cleared him of all charges. 

“He was not given a fair trial. The members of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) spoke to the media about the proceedings and claimed that he was guilty,” Kiriella said, rushing to defend Mahendran who has been held responsible by the COPE for the alleged Central Bank bond scam. The Minister made the comments at the weekly Cabinet briefing held in Parliament yesterday. 

The Higher Education and Highways Minister however fell short of explaining why a parliamentary debate on the issue had not been held despite demands from both members of the Government and the Opposition. 

Highlighting that COPE had no legal bearing, Kiriella said that the report had already been sent to the Attorney General’s department to proceed with legal action. 

“The Parliamentary Oversight Committee can only name and shame, which has been done, but the AG will now take action if needed,” he said. 

However, he failed to answer questions posed by the media on why Mahendran was still employed by the Government and receiving remuneration.