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Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, President's Counsel (PC) Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that not only the parties involved in various acts of corruption, but also the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) is attempting to disrupt the passage of the proposed Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB) to be debated in the Parliament today (21).

The ACB, if passed in the Parliament, is to replace the Bribery Act, No. 11 of 1954 (Chapter 26), the CIABOC Act, No. 19 of 1994, and the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law, No. 1 of 1975.

Speaking during a special media briefing on the proposed ACB at the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies in Colombo yesterday (20), Dr. Rajapakshe claimed that certain parties are working to thwart the Government's sincere efforts to introduce legal provisions to eradicate bribery and corruption. 

“Earlier, in 2007, we pointed out that the country had lost Rs.300 billion in revenue due to corruption in Government institutions. At that time, both the Government and the Opposition criticised us. At the same time, 17 Parliamentarians from the Opposition joined the Government and got Ministerial posts. Today, when the ACB is presented, the CIABOC itself is trying to disrupt it. It is in such a social system that we have to eliminate bribery and corruption.” 

He further stated that bribery and corruption have spread in the country to such an extent that even the money invested by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in various projects cannot be traced. “On one occasion, the CBSL released funds to a person connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to raise the image of Sri Lanka. Finally, that person was imprisoned, and the CBSL Governor, who gave him a large sum of money, became the State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms, and again became the CBSL Governor (a reference to former State Minister and CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal). When things like this happen, how can we eliminate bribery and corruption? So far, all parties, including the CBSL, have allowed corruption to happen,” he said. 

Speaking further, Dr. Rajapakshe said that although the CIABOC, which is currently in operation, is an independent entity, it does not have the kind of power that can be exercised effectively. Therefore, through the proposed ACB, a mechanism has been prepared for the CIABOC to exercise its power. 

“With the weaknesses of the current CIABOC Act, the independence of the CIABOC is fruitless. In fact, it should be independent, and have the necessary powers and environment to effectively exercise its powers. Therefore, we have prepared this Bill by including provisions that cover all those shortcomings. Some parties are alleging that this was prepared according to the needs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but that is completely false. We obtained suggestions from all parties, including the IMF and the World Bank, in preparing this, but that does not mean that we have prepared the Bill according to their wishes and needs.”

Commenting on the provisions of the existing Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law which was introduced during the regime of then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he said that the Law has become outdated, and that therefore, through the proposed ACB, the said Act has been strengthened and updated according to the current conditions. 

“There is a serious problem with accountability in the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law that is currently in force. Especially if a person does not submit their declarations of assets and liabilities, the fine they have to pay is only Rs. 1,000. There are a large number of groups that are not covered by that Law. Through the proposed Bill, we have corrected all those deficiencies. According to the provisions of this Bill, the President, the Governors, the Speaker of the Parliament, High Commissioners and Ambassadors, and the Chairpersons and Members of Commissions must submit assets and liabilities declarations. After studying them, the CIABOC will have the power to take action if there has been any illegal acquisition of assets.”

As the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) had stated that it would support the passage of the ACB only if the Government is to make the amendments that they (SJB) have proposed, The Daily Morning queried Dr. Rajapakshe as to whether he had gone through the proposals of the SJB, to which he said that he had not received them yet. “I have not received them so far. If they have proposed any progressive amendments, we are open to implementing them. We hope that they will make a progressive contribution to this Bill.”

Meanwhile, former CIABOC Director General (DG) Sarath Jayamanne PC, who was involved in drafting the proposed Bill, commented on the provisions contained in the same. He said that it is a serious issue that the CIABOC established under the current CIABOC Act, which was introduced by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga in 1990s, does not have competent investigative officers, and has to rely on officers temporarily assigned from the Police Department. He said that as a solution to this issue, the ACB empowers the CIABOC to recruit suitable officers as per the criteria decided by it. According to the ACB, he said that judges would not be appointed as members of the CIABOC, and that instead, two experts with knowledge in subjects such as accounting and finance and an expert in the field of law would be appointed as its members including the Chairperson, while a person with more than 15 years of experience in prosecution would be appointed as its DG. 

He said that if all the members resign at the same time, a problematic situation would arise, and that therefore, a mandatory period has been imposed for the relevant members to serve. Speaking further, Jayamanne said that the CIABOC did not have the authority to investigate allegations of money laundering but that the ACB would enable it (CIABOC) to conduct such investigations and take necessary action. He also said that the CIABOC can take action through the proposed Bill against individuals and parties who submit false complaints of bribery and corruption based on personal interests. 

He went on to say that if a head of a particular institution retaliates against an employee under them for providing information about bribery and corruption, provisions have been included in the ACB to consider it as a criminal offence. He added that the ACB contains legal provisions to take action under bribery and corruption charges for offences such as match-fixing, the non-declaration of conflicts of interest by public officials, and the solicitation of sexual bribes.

“In order to eradicate bribery and corruption in the country, bribery and corruption in the public sector as well as in the private sector should be eradicated. The provisions in this regard have also been included in this Bill. It is not possible to eliminate bribery and corruption in the private sector all at once. It must be done step by step. Therefore, the ACB empowers the CIABOC to investigate corruption in listed private companies and to take appropriate measures.” 

Jayamanne also said that it is very important for the CIABOC to operate with transparency in order to eliminate bribery and corruption. For that purpose, he said that the ACB has made it mandatory for members and officers of the CIABOC to submit their performance reports to the Parliament once every three months. Apart from that, another performance report should be submitted to the Parliament once a year, and they should also submit assets and liabilities declarations at the appropriate time. In addition to high level officials, he said that it has been discovered that low level officials are also committing offences related to bribery and corruption. Accordingly, he said that the relevant institutions will be authorised through the ACB to call for assets and liabilities declarations from the lower level officials of public institutions by issuing gazette notifications from time to time. He mentioned that public servants will have the opportunity to submit assets and liabilities statements through an electronic system, and that such declarations will have to be submitted not to the Parliament, but to a separate body called the Directorate of Assets and Liabilities Declarations that will be established under the CIABOC, following the enactment of the ACB. 

He further said that the criteria to be followed by the CIABOC in closing any complaint, in withdrawing an indictment, and in sentencing by Magistrates have also been included in this Bill. Furthermore, he said that it is inappropriate to provide the public with the opportunity to obtain a person's assets and liabilities declarations in their original form, and that therefore, the ACB has provided the concerned parties with the opportunity to request a copy of the edited assets and liabilities declarations.