Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has hit back at the Bribery Commission, accusing its legal counsel of deliberately misleading the court with references to him during today’s proceedings. He says he is consulting his lawyers on the legal action to be taken.
Issuing a strongly worded statement, Wickremesinghe said media reports on the case involving MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake fail to mention two key facts: the court rejected the Bribery Commission’s request to cancel Dassanayake’s bail, and the defence objected to the submissions made against him.
Wickremesinghe clarified that in his statement to the Commission on 28 April, he explained that Dassanayake’s wife had consulted him over whether her husband’s parliamentary privileges were violated by a statement made by Minister Samantha Vaidyaratne. “Since I had given advice as a lawyer, I am not in a position to make any disclosures,” he said.
He further stated that he had referred the Commission to Articles 148, 149, and 150 of the Constitution, which make clear that Parliament has sole authority over public finance, and that any funds not allocated by law must be part of the Consolidated Fund. He stressed that funds can only be withdrawn via a warrant issued by the Minister of Finance, and that holding money in fixed deposits without such authority was unconstitutional.
Wickremesinghe maintained that the Treasury circular issued in 2015 during his tenure was a restatement of the law. “A circular by itself is not law,” he said, adding that the lawful course of action was to withdraw the fixed deposit and apply it under the Provincial Budget.
“These submissions made in respect of me is a wilful misleading of the Court,” he said. “I am consulting my lawyers as to action to be taken.”
He also said that he has written to the Commission regarding how the investigation has been conducted.
The case in question was taken up before the Colombo Chief Magistrate today, with MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake — currently in remand custody — produced in court. He is accused of causing a loss exceeding Rs. 1.76 billion during his time as Chief Minister of the Uva Provincial Council by prematurely withdrawing funds from a fixed deposit account.
The Bribery Commission’s legal officer alleged that the withdrawal happened in February 2016, months before the relevant Treasury circular was issued in November 2016. They also claimed Wickremesinghe’s public statement, made at the request of Dassanayake’s wife, had adversely impacted the investigation — and requested the court to cancel the MP’s bail.
However, the Magistrate’s Court rejected this request, allowing Dassanayake’s bail to remain in place.
