July 25, Colombo (LNW): Three petitions have been lodged with the Supreme Court challenging the visa processing system introduced at Katunayake Airport by VFS Global, involving Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and the government.
Opposition MPs Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran, and Rauff Hakeem are behind the legal actions.
They are seeking a court order to halt the new visa procedure, citing concerns over potential breaches of crucial national security data.
MP Ranawaka publicly criticised the system, alleging it is part of a multi-billion-dollar scam.
“We have challenged Minister Alles and the government in the Supreme Court over their role in this scandalous visa procedure,” Ranawaka said in a statement.
The scrutiny intensified after a local passenger highlighted issues with the VFS visa process, which was widely shared online.
A subsequent probe by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) revealed that VFS Global was selected without a competitive bidding process, which may have led to the Department of Immigration and Emigration missing out on more favourable rates.
CoPF Chairman MP Harsha de Silva noted that if competitive bids had been solicited, the government could have secured services at a lower cost, potentially under US$25, and even mentioned that Mobitel had previously offered to provide similar services for US$1.
The lack of specification documents for the visa service’s criteria has raised questions about the selection process.
The CoPF’s findings suggest that more competitive options might have been available if a transparent bidding process had been followed.
