Former Chief Minister of the Southern Province Shan Wijayalal De Silva was taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Wednesday morning, Ada Derana and Newswire reported.
The arrest is in connection with allegations of misuse of funds in 2019, the year Wijayalal headed the Southern Provincial Council. No further details on the specific transactions or the formal charges have been released.
The case adds to an expanding line of CIABOC actions against senior politicians from the previous administration this year, including the refiling of the Greek bond case against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal under the Anti-Corruption Act, the active probe into former president Mahinda Rajapaksa over the Airbus deal and the twin Basil Rajapaksa criminal tracks running through Matara, Colombo Fort and Colombo Magistrate’s Court. Provincial Councils have been administered by centrally appointed governors since their 2014 expiry, leaving the Wijayalal-era Southern Council records as the substantive accountability record for that period.
Wijayalal was produced before the Hulftsdorp Chief Magistrate’s Court later on Wednesday and remanded until June 12. The case relates to alleged irregularities in the use of Rs. 16.5 million allocated for Southern Provincial Council members’ development funds in 2019, used to procure chairs for public voluntary associations in the Southern Province. CIABOC alleges that a manufacturing company was selected outside the approved procurement procedure, conferring an undue advantage on the supplier. A total of 16,361 chairs were purchased under the project and distributed to 54 provincial council members across the three Southern districts, with delivery to their offices, resulting in financial loss to the state.
Update — June 12 bail
The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on Friday, June 12, released Wijayalal on bail on the day his remand expired. Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama issued the order after considering submissions from CIABOC and the defence, directing the suspect’s release on two surety bails of Rs. 5 million each. The court imposed a travel ban and ordered him to surrender his passport. The investigative ground covered by CIABOC at the bail submission stage formally specified the Rs. 16.5 million allocation under the Southern Provincial Development Authority, the 16,361 chairs procured outside the approved procurement procedure, and their distribution to 54 council members across the three Southern districts — confirming the substantive case framework on the public record.
Update — June 15: Former private secretary arrested in the same case
CIABOC on Monday arrested Wijayalal’s former private secretary over the same Rs. 16.5 million chairs procurement allegations, Ada Derana reported. The Commission said the procurement was carried out in violation of standard procedures, with a specific manufacturer selected and conferring an undue advantage that caused a loss to the state. The chairs were procured through the Southern Provincial Development Authority and distributed under provincial council member allocations across the three Southern districts, with 16,361 chairs allegedly delivered to 54 council members for onward distribution. The suspect was due to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
Sources: Ada Derana — arrest; Newswire — arrest; Ada Derana — remand; Newswire — bail; NewsFirst — bail; Shan Wijayalal’s former private secretary arrested over Rs. 16.5 million corruption allegations — Ada Derana, June 15.
