News

Arrest warrant against Johnston, recalled

Published

8 months ago

November 1, 2024

editor

The Colombo High Court has recalled the arrest warrant issued against former Minister Johnston Fernando after he appeared before court today (Nov. 01).

On October 23, the Colombo High Court issued a warrant for Fernando’s arrest for failing to appear before court in connection with a corruption case filed by the Bribery Commission.

The case alleged that former minister Fernando, former CWE (Lak Sathosa) Chairman Eraj Fernando and former Minister’s Private Secretary Raj Mohideen Mohammad Sakeer for allegedly causing an unlawful loss to the government by engaging the employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) in election work.

However, the defense counsel informed the court that their client was unable to attend the previous hearing as he was providing a statement to the CID in compliance with an undertaking given to the Court of Appeal.

Considering this, High Court Judge Manjula Tilakaratne ordered Johnston Fernando to be released on a cash bail of Rs.25,000 and a surety of Rs. one million.

News

Former Eastern Provincial Council member arrested

Published

6 hours ago

July 6, 2025

editor

Ampara District Organizer of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party and former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniya Bharathi has been arrested.

He was arrested over the abduction and disappearance of the former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. Subramaniyam Ravindranath.

Sivanathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and former State Minister, was arrested by the Colombo Criminal Investigation Department at his office in Batticaloa on April 8, over this incident.

He was later detained for 3 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Iniya Bharathi, also known as Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, was arrested based on information revealed during the interrogation of Pillayan.

News

e-Revenue Licence system down due to technical glitch, ICTA says

Published

6 hours ago

July 6, 2025

editor

The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the electronic Revenue Licence system (eRL 2.0) is currently unavailable due to a critical technical infrastructure issue.

According to the ICTA, the disruption began on July 3, 2025, and has made vehicle revenue licence issuing services inaccessible.

The unavailability is expected to continue until July 9, 2025.

The ICTA expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the public and assured that technical teams are working urgently to resolve the issue.

The agency also said that further updates will be shared as work progresses, with an official notice to be issued once services are restored.