News

Govt. urged to probe questionable passport deal, save state funds

Published

2 years ago

2024/10/28

Pubudu Jayagoda

The People’s Struggle Alliance (PSA), led by the JVP-splinter group, the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), yesterday called on their former colleagues in the government to conduct a thorough investigation immediately into issues related to the procurement of passports and allegations of fraud involving public funds.

Addressing the media in Nugegoda, PSA’s Colombo District candidate, Pubudu Jayagoda, contesting next month’s parliamentary election, warned that the government’s coffers would lose millions of US dollars due to a questionable deal with a private entity to purchase 750,000 N-Series passports, as per a Cabinet decision dated 02 Sept., 2024.

” Generally, around 2,800 passport applications are submitted daily, but recently, only about 1,000 passports have been issued. This shortfall is due to the government’s decision to issue a new type of passport. Until now, Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) hav been issued. The government decided to introduce e-Passports with a chip and enhanced security features. For this, a new Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) was required. Initially, the Expression of Interest (EOI) said the entity issuing the new passports must also handle the PKI. However, this requirement was dropped during the tender process, and the final tender was called without including PKI.

Four companies submitted bids during the tender process, of which three qualified. Among them, Epic Lanka submitted a bid of USD 9.85 million. The next bid from a Malaysian company, ‘Irish’, in collaboration with Metropolitan, was USD 6.37 million. The French company ‘Thales’, partnered with ‘Just in Time’, offered USD 5.02 million. Consequently, the lowest bid by ‘Just in Time’ was selected for the tender. However, Epic Lanka, which had been involved in passport issuance in Sri Lanka for 21 years,

challenged the tender process in court, claiming irregularities. This legal dispute delayed the implementation of the e-passport system, leading to long queues for passports.

Epic Lanka has consistently argued that it holds the legal rights to passport issuance in Sri Lanka, and if the contract is awarded to another company, they should receive compensation. However, the Department of Immigration and Emigration is convinced otherwise. Ultimately, the court ruled that if compensation were to be paid, it should be USD 1.5 per passport, and a committee would decide on the payment. A committee has been appointed, but it has yet to submit its recommendations.

Epic Lanka claims that it has legal authority to issue passports in Sri Lanka, presenting a letter to this effect, while the Department of Immigration and Emigration denies having received such a letter. This raises questions about whether the department signed an agreement with Epic Lanka as they claim, necessitating an immediate investigation, Jayagoda has said. Currently, ‘Just in Time’ has issued 750,000 passports, and for each passport, a payment of USD 1.45 is owed to Epic Lanka. This amounts to about a million dollars, representing a significant waste of public funds. The government must clarify its position on this matter immediately, says the PSA.

“It’s important to note that Epic Lanka was previously accused in a data fraud case related to the National Medicines Regulatory Authority.

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Geneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Suresh Sallay

The government has chosen not to respond to questions raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the detention of retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ex-official in late February this year. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have jointly raised the issue on 20 July, 2026.

Drawing attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to what they called alleged arbitrary detention of Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as well as allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment while in custody, resulting in the grave deterioration of his health, and imminent risks of retaliation through further torture and ill-treatment resulting in irreparable harm, should he be released from hospital and returned to custody, the UN sought the government explanation with a 60-day period.

The UN has stated: “This communication, and any response received from your Excellency’s Government, will be made public via the communications reporting website at the 60 days mark. Should your Excellency’s Government respond within 60 days, both the communication and the response, may be published before the 60 days mark. The communications and responses

will also be made available in the subsequent periodic report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.”

In the absence of the government’s response, the UN posted the letter, dated 20 July, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake. The full letter can be accessed https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=31125

News

Section of wartime KKS High Security Zone vacated to facilitate economic development in the area

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The Army, last week, vacated an area, within the wartime high security zone in the Jaffna peninsula. The Defence Ministry said that an extent of 187.56 acres of land, belonging to the Cement Corporation in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, has been released by the military. The released land, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division, had been utilised by the Sri Lanka Army since the middle of 1997.

The release of the 187.56-acre extent forms part of the initiative to make State land available for the proposed investment zone in Kankesanthurai, thereby facilitating future investment and economic development in the area.

News

Lawyer lodges complaint against Govt. Printer, Media Ministry Secy.

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

A complaint has been lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against the Government Printer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Media regarding the online release of falsified documents bearing a forged Speaker’s certificate.

Attorney-at-Law Aruna Laksiri has lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau requesting legal action against the Government Printer of the Department of Government Printing (No. 118, Dr. Danister de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 08), Prasanna Jayaratne, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media (Asidisi Medura, 163, Kirulapone Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 05), Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The complaint alleges the commission of offences by forging and uploading falsified documents online using a forged Speaker’s certification, failure to perform statutory duties, and misappropriation of public property.

The complaint states that a copy of the English translation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was downloaded and printed from the official website of the Government Printing Department (www.documents.gov.lk), which operates under the Ministry of Mass Media. On its outer cover and on page 1, the text “certified on 25th of September, 2026” is inscribed inside brackets.

The complaint pointed out that the Speaker has certified an English translation. Under Articles 23, 79, 83, and 80 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts laws and the Speaker certifies bills strictly in the Sinhala and Tamil languages; under the Constitution, therefore the Speaker cannot apply such certification to an English translation.