High court rejects preliminary objections in case against former Ministers

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, March 30 (Daily Mirror) - Colombo High Court Judge Buddhika C. Ragala rejected the preliminary objections raised by former Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Nalin Fernando, who are accused of misappropriating public funds.

The case relates to allegations that during the 2015 Presidential election period, 14,000 carrom boards and 11,000 draught boards were imported through the Lanka Sathosa and distributed to political offices of then Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa, causing a loss of Rs. 39 million to the State.

The High Court made this determination when considering the preliminary objections raised by the defence.

Meanwhile, the Court also ordered the release of former Sports Ministry Secretary, retired Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi, who had been named as a defendant in the case. This was pursuant to a request made by the Attorney General’s Department under Section 194 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

At a previous hearing, defence counsel for the accused had raised preliminary objections, informing court that their clients had already been convicted and sentenced in a separate case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on similar charges.

The defence argued that instituting fresh legal proceedings on the same charges was contrary to law and that, therefore, the present case could not be maintained.

Delivering his order, the High Court Judge noted that the case filed by the Bribery Commission had been instituted under Section 70 of the Bribery Act, whereas the present case had been filed by the Attorney General under Section 170 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The judge observed that a comparison of the charges under the Bribery Act and those under the Code of Criminal Procedure revealed that the constituent elements of the offences were different. 

Accordingly, the Court held that the Attorney General was legally empowered to institute proceedings in respect of the present charges.

The Court further ruled that the charges filed under the Code of Criminal Procedure could be maintained and that the case would proceed accordingly.

The matter was fixed for pre-trial conference on June 26.