An anti-corruption watchdog in Sri Lanka has formally requested a state investigation into the multi-billion rupee sale of prime public land to a private hotel firm during the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Citizens’ Power Against Bribery, Corruption and Waste submitted a complaint to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Thursday, demanding the recovery of the property alongside legal action against those involved.
According to the civil society group, the executive powers granted under the State Lands Ordinance were misused to transfer state assets to favoured parties without obtaining required approval from the Cabinet of Ministers.
The organization highlighted serious procedural irregularities in the deal, noting that the prime land was handed over to the private entity without conducting a public auction or initiating a competitive bidding process.
Concerns were also raised regarding the accuracy and validity of the valuation reports utilised to fix the final selling prices for the prime government property.
The watchdog pointed to an extraordinarily rapid timeline for the primary transaction, where the land survey was prepared on 27 December 2010, the legal deed was drafted the following day, and full registration was finalised on 29 December.
Legal documentation reveals that former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga signed the initial deed transferring a 2.4361-hectare plot to the hotel firm for 75 million US dollars, which equalled roughly 8,250 million rupees at the time.
Records further show that the purchasing company had been registered with the Registrar of Companies on 19 November 2010 under the directorship of Mohamed Sajad Mashoon, merely weeks before acquiring the state asset.
A secondary plot measuring 1.6108 hectares was subsequently sold to the same firm on 15 March 2011 for 5,499 million rupees under identical legal provisions.
In total, the two transactions encompassed approximately ten acres and eleven perches of public land sold for a combined value of 13,749 million rupees.
The formal petition was officially lodged and signed by Kamantha Thushara, the president of the anti-corruption organization.
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