• Alleges unlawful benefit of USD 999 m to disaster-linked parties

The Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCPA) organisation has lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), seeking an investigation into the conduct of three Supreme Court (SC) Judges over an order that terminated proceedings relating to compensation arising from the MV X-Press Pearl maritime disaster.

The complaint, dated 30 August and addressed to the Director General of the CIABOC, which was shared with The Daily Morning by the MCPA’s President Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, alleges that the three Judges abused their public office in a manner that conferred an unlawful benefit of approximately US $ 999 million on the owners of the X-Press Pearl and their local agent. The allegations are based, according to the complaint, on journal entries, the judgment and the order terminating the proceedings, which the complainant says are inconsistent with a judgment delivered by a five-Judge bench headed by the former Chief Justice (CJ).

The complaint refers to the SC judgment delivered on 24 July of last year (2025), stating that the X-Press Pearl owners and their local agent had paid only $ 1 million at that point, although $ 250 million was due to be paid on or before 24 September 2025.

It also refers to two letters sent by the marine indemnity insurer based in London, England to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 19 September 2025 and 14 November 2025 seeking his intervention to settle the matter amicably. The complaint notes that the Executive President had no lawful authority to intervene in a matter that had already been decided by the SC.

The case was subsequently mentioned before the SC on 25 September 2025. The complainant says that requests made for action against the X-Press Pearl owners and their local agent for alleged contempt of court were not acted upon by the three Judges in question. The matter was again taken up on 26 January of this year (2026) before a three-Judge Bench comprising the three Judges named in the complaint. 

The complaint questions the exclusion of President’s Counsel and Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, described in the complaint as the most senior of the four Judges previously associated with the matter and responsible for compiling the judgement. According to the complaint, no lawful reason was given for his exclusion. It further alleges that this was contrary to established Court practice concerning the composition of subsequent benches in matters heard by the Court previously, referring to SC Applications Numbers 66 and 67/95. 

It further states that on the same day, 26 January 2026, the three-Judge bench made an order terminating the proceedings. The complainant alleges that the effect of the order was to relieve the X-Press Pearl owners and their local agent of liability for approximately $ 999 million in outstanding compensation, without action being taken over the alleged contempt of court.

The complaint further states that the Compensation Management Commission appointed by the SC subsequently terminated its sittings after the order and informed the Court that it could not proceed with the mandate entrusted to it. The Secretary to the Commission subsequently informed the complainants of that position in a letter dated 6 March 2026, which has also been submitted to CIABOC.

The MCPA complaint states that, taken together with independent and credible evidence submitted to the Commission, the material discloses a prima facie case warranting an investigation into the conduct of the said three Judges. It alleges that their conduct amounted to an unlawful exercise or abuse of public office for the purpose of conferring an unlawful benefit on the respondents and could therefore constitute an act of corruption under Section 111 of the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023.

The complainant has asked CIABOC to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations and take whatever action is warranted by law.