Media vital to fight corruption

E. Weerapperuma

COLOMBO: Media is a powerful force and I have come to reckon the power of media having read news about two recent incidents in India, said Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Chairman Justice Ameer Ismail on Tuesday.

While calling upon the media to play its pivotal role in moving the legislators to make the CIABOC a truly Independent body, Justice Ismail, a retire Supreme Court Judge said that the Commission was subject to criticism.

"We are sensitive to criticism. But we welcome criticism", he said.

Citing the two Indian examples where eleven MPs were sacked for taking bribe to raise questions in Lok Sabha and a North Indian MP sacked for releasing Rs.500,000 from his budgetan allocation given for development work, to obtain membership from the prestigious Chandigah Golf Club, he said that he had changed his attitude towards media and was taking the media into confidence he wanted to correct a few misgivings.

"Today under Act No. 19 of 1994, the Commission cannot investigate into allegations unless the complaints are received in writing. We cannot act on our own. The Commission has to receive complaints in writing. The Section 4 of the Act is very clear. It says that the Commission should receive communication. Not orally. A letter has to come to us.

It could be sent under some name if the informant does not wish to identify himself. We will begin investigation in the very same day. It is up to the media to move the legislature to change it.

The media must get involved," he said.

Tracing the history of the Commission Justice Ismail pointed out that until 1954 taking a bribe came as an offence under the Penal Code and it was the duty of the Attorney General to investigate. No other person could do that.

With the Amendments brought to the 1954 Act, in 1958 the Office of the Bribery Commissioner was created and it was to function as a Government Department under the Justice Ministry. The Amendments brought to the Act in 1965 said that the Commissioner could investigate any complaint, of which he becomes aware of, he could order an investigation. He could proceed with an investigation on information he receives from newspapers or from a friend. This was the pattern up to 1994, he said.

There has to be a political will and political commitment to set up a truly independent Commission and the media must play its role in this regard. The Commission cannot function without the commitment of the Members of the Parliament to make it an independent body in every sense and strengthen it, he said.

He also observed that as the Commission was on its own could not give protection to the complainants. Citing a case to prove this point Justice Ismail said that acting on a complainant the Commission was able to arrest a Member of a Local Government Body in the act of taking a bribe.

This person has won the March 30 Local Government Election and is now the Chairman of the PS. The complainant wants protection from the Commission.

"But we cannot do much. We have no powers to intervene," he said. In Korea awards are given to the informants to the tune of Rs.2 million but here we only could give expenditure incurred in travelling," he added.

"We are not an Independent body. We cannot recruit the officers we want. We cannot recruit police officers. We have to depend heavily for human resources on the Public Administration Ministry and the Inspector General of Police.

The officers sent to us are liable to be transferred. We have to depend on the Treasury for money. If we are truly free and independent we should have the right to recruit the persons we want.

If a police officer is transferred out of the Commission I can do nothing about it. We cannot take any decisions with regard to such matters," Justice Ismail said.

Justice Ismail also said that the Commission is now a member of the Asia Pacific Initiative, as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has authorised joining the seven-year-old ADB initiative to fight corruption. " We are the 27th member of this body. It is not a talking shop," he added.

Commission's Director General Piyasena Ranasinghe said corruption robs citizens of future opportunities when public money for public goods such as medicine or education are stripped into private pockets.

In our country the Commission is the sole statutorily constituted institution vested with the responsibility of investigating allegations of bribery and corruption. The Commission therefore plays a very vital role towards eradicating the social menace to enhance transparency and good governance.

We need the presence of a strong political will against corruption and active participation of people, NGOs, Civil Society groups, an independent functionary. A free and independent media are crucial for fighting corruption," he said.

Transparency International Sri Lanka Chapter Chairman M.D.A.Harold and Free Media Movement Spokesman Sunanda Deshapriya also spoke.