UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake has not yet handed over the alleged audio tapes to the relevant officials of the Communication Department of Parliament.
After his announcement in Parliament on January 21 that the audio tapes would be tabled, MP Ranjan Ramanayake had met the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake with a few CDs to be handed over. Accordingly, the Secretary General had referred the MP to the relevant Department to which the CDs should be handed over, parliamentary sources told the Sunday Observer.
Despite MP Ranjan Ramanayke being led to the relevant Department with the requisite letter, the MP refrained from handing over the CDs as stated earlier. The MP had informed the Department officials that the CDs had to be re-examined and as such he could not hand them over.
Therefore, the Parliamentary sources said the news currently in circulation that the CDs had been handed over, is false and inaccurate.
Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Friday (24) told the House that MP Ranjan Ramanayake had not handed over any CDs containing telephone conversations to Parliament. Responding to a question by State Minister Nimal Lanza in Parliament, the Speaker said Ramanayake had handed over the CDs and the Secretary General of the House had issued a receipt together with a note. However, he said the MP had later withdrawn the CDs following legal advice.
The Government Analyst Department is due to submit a report on the hard disks, CDs, the firearm and live ammunition that were found in parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayaka’s house during the police raid early this month. The report will be submitted to the court next week.
A senior official attached to the Government Analyst’s Department said the investigations with regard to the report are on-going.The Colombo Crimes Division handed over the hard disks, CDs, the firearm and live ammunition to the Government Analyst on January 9.
Ramanayaka was remanded till Wednesday (29) over allegations of tampering with the duties of judges.