Bribery complaint filed against three judges in X-Press Pearl disaster

A fresh storm is brewing over the ill-fated X-Press Pearl maritime disaster after Dr Chamal Sanjeewa, President of the Medical and Civil Rights Doctors’ Association, officially lodged a explosive written complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). The filing targets three Supreme Court judges, alleging that their decisions torpedoed the recovery of nearly 999 million United States dollars in compensation owed by the shipping company and its local agents.

The grievance traces back to rulings delivered by a five-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice across cases numbered SC/FR/168/2021, SC/FR/176/2021, SC/FR/184/2021, and SC/FR/277/2021. Those earlier directives mandated that the shipping firm pay 250 million dollars by September 24, 2025. Yet, according to the complaint, a paltry 1 million dollars ever materialized, leaving a yawning 249 million dollar chasm. Matters escalated when petitioners sought contempt of court actions over the non-compliance, only for the complaint to allege that the three judges in question declined to take action against the company.

Intriguingly, the filing flags procedural turbulence behind the scenes, claiming that Justice Yasantha Kodagoda—the previous bench's senior-most judge who helped draft the initial judgement—was removed from the matter without valid legal justification. When a newly constituted three-member bench took up the case on January 26, 2026, it abruptly terminated the proceedings against established judicial practice. Dr Sanjeewa contends this maneuver permanently blocked the recovery of roughly 999 million dollars and dealt a fatal blow to the court-appointed Compensation Management Commission, which was formally told it could no longer operate following a March 6, 2026 letter.

Beyond the immediate financial fallout, the complaint hints at deeper political undercurrents, questioning whether the lost payout is tied to the implementation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution—a constitutional shift Dr Sanjeewa is separately challenging via a Supreme Court petition. Invoking the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023, the doctor has urged CIABOC to probe the magistrates under Section 111 for allegedly misusing public office, while demanding regular progress updates under Section 44. As it stands, these serious accusations remain unproven allegations, and none of the targeted judges have been found guilty of any wrongdoing.