Proposal to establish “Corruption Court” stuck at Cabinet

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe accused of sabotage

A proposal to establish a separate court to hear corruption cases has got bogged down at the Cabinet, with Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe accused of sabotage.

Minister of Health and Co-Government Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne confirmed on Friday that a Memorandum to create a “Corruption Court”, that would deal exclusively with mega cases had been presented to the Cabinet of Ministers.

With regard to  Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ajith P. Perera having accused Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe of preventing the passage of the “Corruption Court” proposal, Senaratne said that  the people expected answers.

He emphasized that regardless of any opposition , the Sirisena- Wickremesinghe government was determined to create a mechanism to expedite hearing of  the big corruption charges.

The masses were critical of lack of sufficient progress, despite evidence, on the allegations that had been leveled against several members of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and some leading Ministers of his government, Senaratne said.

“What you saw on January 8, 2015 was only a change of government. Some influential persons in the public service are trying to bail out the Rajapaksa family.”

Deputy Minister Ajith P Perera said that a separate Court would not only be able to hear corruption cases continuously, but also ease the workload of the other courts.