Justice delayed is justice denied

Presidential Commissions of Inquiry (PCoI) have become something of a trademark of this Government. Since the appointment of a PCoI to investigate the bond scam, over the years there have been several rolled out to tackle various issues including corruption and mismanagement at SriLankan and Mihin Lanka Airlines and a PCoI to tackle the corruption of the existing administration.

In April a Presidential Commission was appointed to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks but even though its report was handed over in June, on Saturday the President appointed a second PCoI on the same matter but it is questionable whether the latest PCoI is taking forward transparency and accountability. 

The PCoI became a popular go-to move for President Maithripala Sirisena after the 2015 bond scam. At the time, readers would recall there was little confidence that an impartial and effective investigation would be conducted on the questionable bond transactions that took place in February 2015. The PCoI, which was also appointed with the support of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) politicians who were part and parcel of the coalition government at the time, decimated two birds with one stone. 

Not only did President Sirisena win political brownie points for initiating the inquiry, he also caused much damage to the image of the UNP by opening up the proceedings to the media. It was an unprecedented move because even though there have been plenty of presidential committees and commissions before, it was the first time that the media was allowed to be present at the hearings. 

The testimonies provided by key stakeholders, including former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, was especially shocking and the upshot was his eventual resignation. It was arguably the first time that such a high-ranking official of both the Government and the ruling party had to step down due to the revelations before a PCoI. Even though Karunanayake was eventually recycled back into Cabinet as the Power and Energy Minister, the findings of the PCoI have continued to be a thorn in the side of the UNP, particularly as it heads to presidential elections and President Sirisena has ensured that he has gained plenty of political mileage from the PCoI. 

The report by a PCoI on SriLankan and the PCoI on excesses of the current administration have both also had a certain political aspect to them. While one can argue that this is inevitable, it must also be argued that for transparency to be truly taken forward, the findings and subsequent legal action have to showcase as much independence as possible. In particular, the presidential committee that was appointed by the President after the Easter attacks handed over its report more than two months ago. Last week the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to investigate the attacks was given a copy of the report by the President and reports indicated that the committee report and PSC report bore such striking resemblance that efforts were being made to amalgamate the two and present one report to Parliament in October. 

It has been five months since the attacks and the families as well as the general public deserve to know who is responsible for these attacks and they must be held accountable. Appointing another PCoI at this point only serves to delay this process. It is heart-rending that the issue continues to be lost in politicisation and ball-passing. Just delayed is justice denied.