A judge and clerk attached to Kaduruwela Quazi Court remanded

By Bhagya Silva

A judge and a clerk attached to the Kaduruwela Quazi Court were arrested on July 4th by officers from the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over a bribery incident and ordered to be remanded till July 22 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali Jayathunga.   

The suspects, O.S.M. Abdul Khader, Quasi-Judicial Judge of Kaduruwela and Alaharaja Vinasher, a court clerk were remanded.   

According to investigators, a woman residing in the Kaduruwela area had filed a complaint with the Bribery Commission, stating that she had instituted a divorce case at the Kaduruwela Quazi Court. It was alleged that the presiding Quazi Judge had demanded a bribe of Rs.100,000 to deliver a favourable ruling in her case.    The complainant, having agreed to the demand, notified the Bribery Commission. Acting on instructions from the Commission, she attempted to hand over the bribe money to the Quasi Judge, at which point both the judge and the court clerk were arrested.   

After being initially produced before the Polonnaruwa Magistrate’s Court following their arrest, the suspects were brought before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.