New Special High Court on Bribery and Corruption to commence work the day after tomorrow
2026-02-14 - 07:10
The Government has planned to operationalise a new Special High Court to hear bribery and corruption cases from the day after tomorrow (16). With the establishment of this court, it is expected that approximately 8,000 pending cases will be expedited and concluded swiftly. Meanwhile, in implementing the responsibilities assigned to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration under the Anti-Corruption Action Plan (2025–2029), it is reported that four official residences previously used by former ministers have been temporarily allocated to the Ministry to facilitate the speedy conduct of legal proceedings. At present, a separate Special High Court has also been established to hear cases related to the Easter Sunday attacks. In this context, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was required to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on the 13th, following a summons issued in connection with an ongoing investigation. However, he had requested an alternative date for his appearance. The investigation pertains to letters allegedly issued during his tenure as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, recommending the allocation of several government residences in Colombo to various individuals in a manner not compliant with legal procedures. Although Gotabaya Rajapaksa was summoned on several occasions to give evidence in the case concerning the abduction of political and human rights activists Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan, he had failed to attend on all such occasions. When he was first summoned to court in 2019, the reason given was that he had travelled abroad to obtain medical treatment. Subsequently, he stated that he was unable to appear before the Jaffna court due to security concerns. Later, he did not appear before court citing presidential immunity, and thereafter sought permission, by way of an affidavit, to provide evidence through an online procedure.