Expedite appeal cases of convicted public officials

Recently two top public officials were convicted of the abuse of public funds and were sentenced to three year jail terms.

They did not spend any time in prison cells but were transferred to the Prison Hospital, from where they filed appeals and applications for bail. The court inquired from the prosecution if they had any objection to granting bail. The prosecuting lawyers observed that an appeal would take as long as three years and, therefore, they had no objection to granting bail. Thus the two convicts were granted bail. This is correct under law.

There is a whole host of cases of similar nature against politicians and high officials pending, after FCID inquiries. If any such accused were sentenced to jail, they can as well ask for bail pending appeals, on the precedence of this above mentioned case. In case of a change in government within this long pending period, they may be granted a presidential pardon.

This is not the expectation of law-abiding citizens of Sri Lanka. They wish that justice is meted out quickly and fairly. The only recourse to the law in the present situation is to take up appeals promptly and give the final verdict. The authorities should consider setting up special appeal courts to bring them to justice expeditiously. A.G. Abeysinghe Gampaha