There Can be No Bending Of The Laws Of The Land To Accommodate The Criminal Element!

Given the dramatic events lately at the highest level of the political and administrative functioning of the Sri Lankan infrastructure today such as the indictment of high profile politicians for high crimes and misdemeanors, the breakdown in communications within the Legislature which spills into a general breakdown of law and order within the Nation seems embarrassingly evident! Even the hand grenade detonation at a public gathering of over 10,000 people within the Capital Colombo with tragic reprisals, makes one wonders whether the Nation has reached a point of no return with impending chaos, and possibly anarchy and revolution if current trends continue?

To add to Sri Lanka's woes the continued stand off by the oppressive LTTE, Sri Lanka's high priority dilemma of the past several decades still unresolved and at large, who in quest of secession despite feigned attempts at Peace have all but compounded Sri Lanka's progress into the future where the existence of the legitimate Administration is being threatened by a mock administration being conducted with impunity in the North and East of Sri Lanka, ridiculing the democratic institution which is supposed to exist within Sovereign Sri Lanka yet contradicted and denied proper definition courtesy of the LTTE and beyond a doubt needing to be dismantled and eliminated in the eyes of the Sinhala Nation and all its other ethnicities to whom freedom means being free without compromise!.

As a prominent former Chief justice has recently observed in all wisdom with a somewhat satirical ring to it" The country is under two dictatorships - one in the North and the other in the South (no matter who's in power)" and tends to frustrate the hopes of a return to normalcy with a remarkable consistency.

It has to be logically and rationally concluded that many Administrations of the past several decades have paid little attention to the principle of the 'Sovereignity of the People' enshrined not only in the present Constitution but also in the previous, going back to Independence, making the definition of Sovereignty perhaps a figure of speech. In the simplest of terms it has to be acknowledged that Sovereignty of the People contrary to the belief of impure revolutionary thought based upon terrorist ideology is inalienable.
Sadly, nothing seems to be inspiring the Administration towards it being upheld forthwith and maintained for posterity in almost abject apathy or some unmitigated and circumspect fear of some reprisal devised as detrimental to the Nation, it has to be assumed!. This gives rise to the speculation that an Administration which cannot enforce the laws of the land implicitly and lets the opposition run amok in dictating terms to them even verbally seems to be lacking either in motivation or the iron will to rule or both as has been the case of the strange, post sentencing shenanigans of the S.B.Dissanayake case where the leader of the opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe together with a few of his past cabinet allies such as the Prof G.L Peiris , Ravi Karunaratne and Rajitha Senaratne continue to bait and barnstorm the Administration with their high flown rhetoric, their obtuse interpretation of the law as well as their partisan support for the imprisoned subject under discussion who despite his incarceration has also resorted to uttering ultimatums and veiled threats even while he is behind bars!

There are many legitimate questions being asked by many discerning public and private figures with respect to the responses of the Wickremasinghe brigade about how a jailed convict could ever return to Parliament as demanded by his opposition Parliamentary buddies where there is no right of appeal or any legitimate accord towards restitution relative to the nature of the sentencing by the nation's highest court which suggests to the contrary? As the observation has been made somewhat astutely, does the law not have to apply equally to everybody? In this country and is it the politician who is sovereign and not the people, despite claims to the contrary?

Consequently would it not be fair to conclude as do the many who base their reasoning on the prevailing conditions within the Nation that much of the criminal justice system seems flawed perhaps with some exceptions and steeped in corruption at many levels with due respect to the exceptions of those who act with integrity such as the murdered High Court Judge!!. If there is corruption at the helm there can be no criminal justice at any level consequently and it needs to be shackled and put down in the best interests of the Nation and its credibility.

Drawing attention once more to the murder recently of the respected High Court Judge gunned down in cold blood together with his bodyguard, this corruption appears to be suddenly very evident, endemic and points towards a conspiracy involving Police Top Brass linked to the mob where the investigations continue. While the alleged perpetrators of the heinous crime are being 'chess gamed' with, as pawns by the powerful sources which comprise certain areas of Sri Lankan Law Enforcement, witnesses are frightened to give evidence lest they might also be murdered. Even the local hangman has sought protection and asked for heightened security in this respect as his vulnerabilities are no exception to the rule in parallel perspective.

To attest to the inference that there is a breakdown of law and order in Sri Lanka there are allegations that Judges are surreptitiously and sometimes even openly intimidated so that they will fix the outcome favourable to the criminal element whether part of a corrupt administrative instigation or fear of the underworld. Lawyers apparently have the clout and wherewithal to manipulate the outcome of the judgment in favor of the accused as a single area by example of the level of corruption cited and then there are many others! So what has Sri Lanka to hope for in the future and where is the Nation headed?

Could it be impending anarchy and a plummeting of Sri Lanka towards Fourth World Status when one of her neighboring Nations Singapore which Sri Lanka was expected to have far surpassed economically and through international recognition by leaps and bounds decades ago appears conversely headed for First World Status.

There can be no bending of the laws of the land to accommodate the criminal element regardless of their status , influence or past glory and those in support of the criminalities perpetrated by such must be made aware that their posturing and attitudes of high handed shuffling towards their own means will be interpreted as part of the same criminalities of the indicted criminals and subjected eventually to the same incarcerations along with some of their past liabilities which have conveniently gone unnoticed in the case of some but continue to loom large as life to those who remember!

While some of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court may seem like payback time for past sins it certainly has to be interpreted also as an implementation of the Laws of the Land in bringing to book those liable for high crimes and misdemeanors and in this respect there can be no exceptions!