The Attorney General (AG) has informed the Court of Appeal that the Cabinet of Ministers has decided not to implement the recommendations of the Political Victimisation Commission, which was chaired by former Justice Upali Abeyratne.

AG Sanjay Rajaratnam had informed the court of this, when the petitions filed by a group of individuals including President Ranil Wickremesinghe and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake were taken up today (Feb. 08).

The petitions had been filed requesting the court to issue a writ order quashing the panel’s recommendations against them and also seeking an interim order preventing the implementation of the recommendations until the hearing of the petition is concluded.

The three-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Upali Abeyratne was appointed by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 20, 2020. The other two members of the commission are retired Court of Appeal Judge Daya Chandrasiri Jayathilake and retired IGP Chandra Fernando.

The Commission was entrusted with the task of inquiring into political victimization and associated background took place in the wake of investigations conducted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, FCID, CID and the Special Investigation Unit of the Police from January 8, 2015 to November 16, 2019.

The Commission was also instructed to conduct an in-depth investigation into serious fraud, corruption, abuse of state resources, privileges, power and authority.

As per a newspaper advertisement, the Commission had received 1971 complaints for investigation. 

The report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry was handed over to then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in December 2020. The report consists of 3 volumes and 2,043 pages.

Later, the former President had formed a special commission of Inquiry to create a suitable mechanism to implement the recommendations of the final report compiled by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Political Victimization.