SB acquitted in bribery case

by Wasantha Ramanayake

Colombo High Court Judge Rohini Perera yesterday acquitted former Samurdhi Minister S.B. Dissanayake of all charges preferred against him in the Bribery Case and came out strongly regarding the lack of vigilance on the part of the Bribery Commissioner.

Delivering the order, the High Court Judge noted that the Bribery Commission had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused.

She also made certain critical observations regarding the lack of vigilance on the part of the Bribery Commissioner.

"In view of this litigation I would earnestly ask the Bribery Commissioner to exercise greater vigilance when in the future he may decide to commence a prosecution. I have mentioned the social opprobrium that may result from a prosecution under the Bribery Act, and the resulting stigma which may stay on long after this case been concluded."

The Judge observed that the Bribery Commissioner had failed in his obligation to make an informed decision to prosecute the accused as required in terms of the Section 23A (4) of the Bribery Act and expressed concern about the social consequence of such a decision.

"It must be said at once that the social consequence that such a charge brings to a person however, high or low he may be in society, could be quite serious and somewhat incalculable."

She noted that such a stigma can not be erased away by a mere acquittal of an accused. Judge Perera expressed her belief that the Commission in future would pay "greater attention to the findings of his own investigators before rushing to embark on prosecutions."

She noted that such hasty decisions would deplete the public coffers particulary in the needy hours. The court observed that the sole witness of the prosecution investigation officer SI Don Chandrapala attached to the Bribery Commission at the conclusion of the evidence had submitted that there was no evidence to show that the accused had acquired property or money with unknown illegal sources of income and reported the same to the Commission.

She observed that the Commission had not requested the investigating officer to conduct further investigations except for two matters and the Commission had deleted considerable sums of money that had formed the considerable part of the known income of the accused.

Earlier, defence counsel made application on behalf the accused under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code to acquit the accused without calling the defence witness since the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the expenditure of the accused was greater than that of his income during the period of March 31, 1995 to September 30, 2001. In this case the Bribery Commission had indicted former Samurdhi Minister S.B. Dissanayake with his inability to account for his assets amounting to Rs. 48 million acquired during the period of March 31, 1995 to September 30, 2001.

Deputy Director General of the Bribery Commission Mallika Liyanage with Assistant Directors (legal) Lasanthi Wijewardane and Asitha Anthony appeared for the prosecution. President's Counsel Ananda Wijesekera with Dulinda Weerasooriya, Chandana Perera and Niroshan Perera instructed by Gawry Shangari Thawarasa appeared for the accused.