Director General, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption vs Sandresh Ravindra Karunanayake and others – SC Appeal No. 61/2024-2025

This case concerns an appeal against a Court of Appeal order in a bribery indictment against the 1st Accused (former Minister of Finance) and the 2nd Accused. The Supreme Court addressed the definition of ‘public servant’ under the Bribery Act and the statutory right of appeal against interlocutory orders. It was determined that the definition of ‘public servant’ in the Bribery Act, which includes Ministers, prevails over the constitutional definition of ‘public officer’ for bribery proceedings. Furthermore, it was held that the right of appeal is statutory and an accused person only has a right to appeal a conviction or sentence, not an interlocutory order of the High Court. The Court of Appeal’s decision to overrule preliminary objections regarding the necessity of including the Director