{"id":88738,"date":"2013-05-27T01:47:33","date_gmt":"2013-05-26T20:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=88738"},"modified":"2013-05-27T01:47:33","modified_gmt":"2013-05-26T20:17:33","slug":"basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/","title":{"rendered":"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Standing Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka\u00a0on Rule of Law\u00a0calls upon the Commission to make public the reasons for the withdrawal of the bribery or corruption\u00a0case against\u00a0the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_88741\" style=\"width: 164px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/sarath-ekanayake\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-88741\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-88741\" class=\"size-full wp-image-88741 \" title=\"Sarath Ekanayake\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"154\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-88741\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarath Ekanayake - Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Issuing a statement its\u00a0Convenor <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Priyantha+Gamage&amp;x=13&amp;y=4\">Priyantha Gamage<\/a><\/span> says; &#8220;Proceedings in Court are open to the public as transparency is an inviolable principle of our legal system.\u00a0 Thereafter the public has a right to know the reason behind the withdrawal of the case before any evidence was recorded as this is one of the very few cases filed against politicians in power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We publish below the statement in full;<\/p>\n<p>It is reported that the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council and two others charged by the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption before the Magistrates\u2019 Court of Colombo for allegedly influencing a principal of a school to admit a child was discharged on an application made to Magistrates\u2019 Court by the commission withdrawing the case against the accused.\u00a0 It is reported that the Commission moved Court by way of a motion to withdraw the case and apparently no reasons were given\u00a0 in open Courts.\u00a0 It is presumed as it has to be done under the Act that the commission files a case in Court after a full investigation and after satisfying itself on the available evidence that there is a case to go before a Court.\u00a0 It is surprising that the commission has withdrawn the case before any evidence was led in Court, and in the absence of the accused who were on bail.<\/p>\n<p>Proceedings in Court are open to the public as transparency is an inviolable principle of our legal system.\u00a0 Thereafter the public has a right to know the reason behind the withdrawal of the case before any evidence was recorded as this is one of the very few cases filed against politicians in power.<\/p>\n<p>In the best interest of transparency in the administration of justice, we call upon the Commission to make public the reasons for the withdrawal of this case.<\/p>\n<p><em><br \/>\n<strong style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":88741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-26T20:17:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"154\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/\",\"name\":\"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-26T20:17:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg\",\"width\":\"154\",\"height\":\"180\",\"caption\":\"Sarath Ekanayake - Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-05-26T20:17:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":154,"height":180,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/","name":"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-26T20:17:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg","width":"154","height":"180","caption":"Sarath Ekanayake - Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basl-standing-committee-concerns-about-withdrawing-bribery-cases-against-politicians-in-power\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Sarath-Ekanayake.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88738"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88759,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88738\/revisions\/88759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}