Vasu, Wimal go to Bribery Commission against CBK over JKH land deal

Friday, 1 May 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa and VasudevaNanayakkara outside the Bribery Commission in Colombo yesterday before lodging a complaint against former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga – Pic by Romesh Danushka Silva

By Chamodi Gunawardana

Democratic Left Front (DLF) General Secretary Vasudeva Nanayakkara and National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday filed a complaint at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over a case against former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga which has been lying idle at the commission for years pending investigation.

The complaint against Kumaratunga was initially lodged in 2007 concerning an incident where John Keells Holdings Ltd. was awarded 10 acres of land inside the Colombo Harbour in breach of due process. According to Nanayakkara, the Supreme Court considered the Fundamental Rights petition filed by Nanayakkara against Kumaratunga in 2007 and ordered the Bribery Commission, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Attorney General to investigate the incident further.

However, addressing the media yesterday outside the Bribery Commission, Nanayakkara claimed that the Bribery Commission and the CID had failed to investigate the issue for seven years or to take any steps regarding this matter.

“My lawyers sent several letters to the Bribery Commission inquiring about the imminent investigations yet they didn’t receive any response from the commission. Therefore we came to the Bribery Commission today to remind the authorities about the pending investigation which was ordered by the Supreme Court that the Bribery Commission has failed to conduct even though seven long years have passed since the order was given. Nevertheless, we are still waiting for justice,” Nanayakkara said.

Meanwhile, Weerawansa, who also accompanied Nanayakkara to the commission, said that the Government should give the same amount of attention to this particular case too that it was presently giving to other criminal investigations.

“We are challenging the Government to carry out investigations regarding this case. However, we will wait and watch whether this Government has the ability to carry out this investigation or not,” Weerawansa stated.