Sri Lanka, Sept. 16 -- Namal Rajapaksa, an SLPP lawmaker and the heir apparent to the Rajapaksa throne, was remanded on Sept. 04 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court for allegedly receiving 100 million rupees as a bribe in connection with a controversial Airbus procurement deal in 2013.

The probe, launched by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC), is a rare case in which the state apparatus has decisively pursued a high-profile allegation of corruption linked to the former regime heavyweights.

The case is important in many respects. First is the extent of corruption itself and its wider implications - not simply the two million US dollars in bribes allegedly received by local politicians and Sr...