Chandraparadeep writes
(Lanka-e-News -2026.March.29, 3.00 A.M.) On March 17, at the end of the second special interview held before the media after President Anura Dissanayake assumed the presidency, a journalist asked the President what guarantee he could give that there would be no corruption or fraud in the emergency purchases of fuel, leaving aside the procurement process. At that, President Anura said in a steady tone: "Trust us. That's all. That's what I told you responsibly. If one of our ministers has used his office for any fraud or corruption, it is not something that will be read somewhere, in Parliament or anywhere, but an indictment will be filed against him in a court of law, and he will be removed the next day. Therefore, trust our politics." The President said in a steady voice that is not his own.
We intended to use this President's statement as the preamble to this article because the indictment papers were handed over to Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody, a cabinet minister in the Malima government, before Colombo High Court Judge Rashantha Godawela today (27).
The indictments were indeed handed over to Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody today, not for an act he committed during his current term as Energy Minister. But it was for an alleged corruption he allegedly committed in a previous position. The journalist is questioning the President about the corruption that may occur in bypassing the procurement process in the current energy procurement. Karumayata is the one who was indicted by the High Court today, accusing Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody of committing corruption in the procurement process in a previous position.
Defendant Kumara Jayakody appeared before the High Court this morning (28) in accordance with a summons issued by the court earlier.
After the charges were handed over, the judge ordered the defendant to be released on two surety bonds of Rs. 1 million each. He also ordered the defendant's fingerprints to be taken and a report to be made.
According to the charges filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Kumara Jayakody is accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the government by providing an advantage to a private company in a procurement process while working for the Lanka Fertiliser Company in 2016.
The Bribery Commission has also charged the accused with the offence of ‘corruption’ under Section 70 of the Bribery or Corruption Act. The case was ordered to be recalled on May 6 for a pre-trial conference. (The current Bribery Commission, headed by Ranga Dissanayake, should be commended.)
One of the main pillars of the popular vote received by this government was the establishment of clean politics in the country. It should be noted that the government has achieved this without fail so far. But now the High Court has filed an indictment against Kumara Jayakody, who was a cabinet minister, for corruption. Since this accusation is not being levelled at him while he was serving in his current ministerial position, it is possible to dilute this if necessary. But whether accusations are levelled at him for today's mistakes tomorrow or for yesterday's mistakes today, the same thing is being levelled at him.
In the previous government, Prasanna Ranatunga was also accused of bribery, but he served in a cabinet ministerial position, claiming that the accusation was levelled at him while he was serving as the Chief Minister, not while he was serving in the cabinet ministerial position he held at that time. But the people kicked the backside of that government and gave more than two-thirds of the votes to the Compass government, not to revive that culture.
Therefore, without ignoring the public opinion and preserving its legitimacy, after an investigation by the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission, after being indicted for corruption, if the case is heard and he is a correct person, he should resign from the cabinet ministerial post or at least until that decision is made.
" File an indictment against him in a court of law, and he will be removed the next day...."
If Kumara Jayakody makes his decision today without allowing the President until the next day, the country's public opinion will not be 'putting five' but 'putting five thousand' on the compass.
---------------------------
by (2026-03-28 21:40:58)
Read 11808 Times
Leave a Reply
0 discussion on this news