Liyanage Padmasiri, the former Director General of the Land Reforms Commission, has formally apologised to Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kandy District MP Chamindrani Kiriella for wrongly associating her name with the alleged illegal acquisition of 43 acres of government land in Hanthana.

During a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges held on 9 January, Padmasiri expressed his regret and acknowledged that the testimony he had provided to the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on 17 July 2025 was incorrect. Following this admission, the Ethics Committee notified the COPE committee of the error and highlighted that the uncorrected broadcast of the false statement had significantly harmed the reputation of MP Kiriella.

In response to the findings, the COPE committee was instructed to formally rectify its records and report the correction to Parliament to ensure the official account is accurate. This development follows a complaint raised by Chamindrani Kiriella in Parliament on 22 July 2025, where she stated that the false reference to her involvement in the Hanthana land case was an insult and a violation of her parliamentary privileges.

The resolution of the matter on 9 January 2026 serves as a reminder of the seriousness with which Parliament treats inaccurate statements and the protection of its members’ reputations during official proceedings.