Indictments were filed in the presence of Colombo High Court Judge Damith Thotawatte against five accused including the Captain of the X-Press Pearl vessel, and the location agent on Friday (25).
The indictments come almost 18 months after the disaster took place. X-Press Pearl was carrying 1,486 containers when it caught fire off Colombo on May 20, 2021, and sank off the coast of Colombo several days later.
The Attorney General had filed the case against eight people, including the five accused, indicting them under eight counts for committing offenses under the Marine Pollution Prevention (MPP) Act No 59 of 1981.
The Colombo High Court Judge ordered for notice to be sent to the three accused who did not appear in court on Friday (25) to appear on the 12th of December 2022.
The five accused who were present in court on Friday (25) were barred from travelling overseas, and they were released on a personal bail of Rs. 1 Million each.
The Attorney General has filed a case against one Vithanage Don Dayananda, a former Assistant General Manager (AGM) at People’s Bank head office, for allegedly preparing and using a forged document related to a Rs.2,000 million personal guarantee bond.
Colombo High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne has fixed the case (HC 39/2019) for trial on October 30. When the case was called on July 01, the accused had appeared in court.
It is alleged that around June 01, 2006, in Colombo, the accused knowingly prepared a forged document purporting to show that a personal guarantee bond, allegedly signed and dated July 27, 1995, by directors of Yashoda Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.had been submitted to the bank’s head office.
Despite being well aware that the document was a forged one, he had allegedly presented it as genuine evidence during the Commercial High Court Case No. 122/2004.
Therefore, the Attorney General has charged him under Section 459 of the Penal Code.
The Ministry of Education has announced that online appeals for the second round of Grade 06 admissions in 2025, based on the 2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Examination results, can be submitted from today (July 03) until July 17.
Parents or guardians can submit appeals for up to three schools by visiting the official website of the Ministry of Education at www.moe.gov.lk or directly via the extension at g6application.moe.gov.lk.
Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy, Galle and Matara districts today (July 03), the Department of Meteorology said.
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.
Meanwhile, fairly strong winds of about 30-40 kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.