Attorney General (AG) Sanjay Rajaratnam has requested the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to launch an inquiry into a series of baseless allegations circulating on social media, targeting certain officials within the Attorney General’s Department, The Sunday Times reports.
Among the claims being shared online is an accusation that the AG acted to facilitate bail for Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, who is currently in remand custody. The AG’s Department has categorically denied this, stating that the matter of granting bail was not even considered during the hearing of Pillayan’s fundamental rights petition.
Another widely circulated allegation suggests that in a case involving suspended Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon, a junior state counsel was assigned instead of a senior officer, allegedly to weaken the prosecution. The AG’s Department has also rejected this claim, explaining that the senior counsel who was scheduled to appear had fallen ill, prompting the assignment of an alternative officer.
The Department notes that such unfounded accusations are emerging at a time when it has filed over 600 indictments in various High Courts across the country this year alone, particularly in cases involving bribery and corruption.
It has also been reported that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has referred several more cases to the AG’s Department for prosecution.
The AG’s Department maintains that these targeted attacks on social media appear to be a deliberate attempt to discredit its work in pursuing high-profile corruption cases.
