Allegations that external pressure was applied to alter laboratory reports on substandard coal imported into Sri Lanka have been placed before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into coal transactions.
The claim came from Saliya Panditharatne, a member of the board of directors of Lanka Coal Generation (Pvt) Ltd, who gave evidence before the commission, NewsFirst reported.
Panditharatne told the commission that several suspicious incidents had been recorded, including the covert taping of internal discussions and the passing of those recordings to coal supplier companies.
He also said that after coal-carrying vessels reached Sri Lanka, some ships had remained at anchor for extended periods while unclear discussions took place between certain officials and the suppliers.
Once the substandard coal controversy surfaced, he added, neither the international suppliers involved nor their local representatives took part in discussions convened by the Secretary to the Ministry of Energy.
Audit office flags unsolicited procurement
The National Audit Office presented separate findings to the commission on alleged irregularities in coal procurement between 2022 and 2025.
Audit Superintendent K. M. Sumudu Dilhani testified that, according to an audit carried out at the request of the Committee on Public Finance, coal imports from 2023 to 2025 were handled exclusively through unsolicited proposal procedures, bypassing a formal tender process.
Relying on unsolicited proposals created significant risk and left the country at a disadvantage, she told the commission. Dilhani also set out the changes made to the coal procurement process in the wake of the 2022 economic crisis.
The commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Gihan Kulatunga, was appointed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to examine all coal transactions carried out in Sri Lanka. Panditharatne had been listed to give evidence when the commission resumed hearings on Monday, alongside a representative of the Auditor General’s Department.
