Parliament has passed two amendments to its Standing Orders this week that grant the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) the power to directly refer evidence of fraud, corruption or bribery to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) or the Inspector General of Police, the Sunday Times reported.
Previously, both committees could only table their findings as reports in Parliament, with no direct channel to law enforcement. The amended Standing Orders remove that intermediary step, enabling immediate referral when committee investigations uncover criminal conduct.
The reform carries particular significance given the ongoing coal procurement investigations. The COPE audit that exposed Rs. 2.24 billion in efficiency losses from substandard coal imports at Lakvijaya could now be referred directly to CIABOC for prosecution. The Auditor General’s findings on coal import irregularities and the newly ordered Presidential Commission represent exactly the type of evidence the new referral power is designed to fast-track.
CIABOC has already been active on separate accountability threads, including arrests of former SLRC officials and processing of the Mahinda Rajapaksa asset declaration notice.
The amendments strengthen Parliament’s oversight role at a time when multiple procurement scandals are under simultaneous investigation, and public pressure for accountability has intensified following the no-confidence motion debate on the coal crisis.
