The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has directed the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, to cancel an internal transfer of a senior parliamentary official who is a key witness in an ongoing corruption investigation.
According to The Island, the female official was due to be transferred on April 20 but her move has been paused after CIABOC intervened. The commission has asked the Secretary General to delay the transfer until its investigation concludes.
The witness is central to CIABOC’s probe into the conduct of suspended Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Chaminda Kularatne. The investigation was opened following a complaint against Kularatne, who himself lodged a cross-complaint against Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne alleging corruption and administrative irregularities.
The cross-complaints have already triggered parallel proceedings: Kularatne filed a writ application at the Court of Appeal in February challenging his interdiction, while CIABOC is simultaneously examining allegations against both men. The Attorney General’s Department has stepped back from representing the Speaker, who has since retained private counsel.
CIABOC’s request to the Secretary General marks the first procedural intervention by the commission in Parliament’s internal staffing decisions in the current investigation. Witness protection concerns inside Sri Lanka’s public institutions have historically been a weak point in anti-corruption cases, and any transfer of a key witness mid-probe risks being characterised as interference.
Parliament has not publicly responded to CIABOC’s directive. The outcome of the paused transfer — and the investigation itself — is now expected to shape the next phase of the dispute between Parliament’s two most senior officials.
