Activities of Bribery Commission come to a halt

Activities of Bribery Commission come to a halt ....

A Commissioner also resigns

A situation where activities of the Bribery and

Corruption Commission has all of a sudden come to a halt is to be noted, as understood.

Two reasons for this have affected this phenomenon. One of those is that after the Speaker placed his signature for the 19th constitutional amendment and it then came into force whereby the structure of the Bribery Commission is instantly changed and that the new planning to be adopted would take some time. The other reason is that even though the 19th amendment would be adopted, activities such as accepting allegations, carrying out investigations already at hand other than filing legal action during the temporary transition period would be carried out; however, because one of the three foremost commissioners resigned abruptly, the possibility of maintaining the Bribery Commission under two commissioners was considered invalid on a legal basis.

It was Mr. Kirthi Wimalachandra, former Justice of Appeal Courts who relinquished his duties yesterday saying that it was on personal grounds. The other two in service are former Judge of Supreme Courts, Mr. Jagath Balapatabendi (chairman) and a former Inspector General of Police, Mr.Jayantha Wickramaratna.

Thus, as a result of the 19th amendment the authoritative powers vested in the structure itself of the Bribery Commission undergoes a change. It is effected by appointing Bribery Commissioners by the new constitutional committee that is established. This means that a further period of time has to be awaited and under these circumstances the Bribery Commission would be inactive from today.