X-Press Pearl disaster: Dispute between Justice Minister and Parliamentary committee

A dispute has arisen between Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and the Parliament’s Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Sustainable Development Chairman Ajith Mannapperuma over the case relating to the X-Press Pearl disaster.

On April 4, the committee had held a meeting related to the X-Press Pearl sinking, where officials from institutions such as the Attorney General’s Department, Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) were present.

Mr Mannapperuma, who is also a Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian, has now written to the Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General summoning them to another committee meeting on April 25. He has also instructed them to submit all files and reports related to the investigation and compensation recovery process.

Minister Rajapakshe though, has ordered his ministry’s secretary to write to both the Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General informing them not to go before the committee and to refrain from submitting any documents to it.

A Sectoral Oversight Committee has no right to question officials regarding an ongoing court case. Even raising a question in Parliament over an ongoing court case is prohibited. Moreover, the request is also a violation of the Parliament’s standing orders, Minister Rajapakshe said.

He said the committee was playing into the hands of those who insist it would be better to file a compensation case in Sri Lanka over the matter instead of doing so in a foreign jurisdiction.

“This is a case of national significance. The Cabinet has already decided where the case will be filed. The Attorney General will file action in the necessary court at the right time,” the minister said.