The Colombo High Court Yesterday (22) served indictments on three persons including Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who are accused of causing a loss to the State by buying GI pipes for the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) when he was the Media Minister.
The other suspects are former SLRC Director Chandrapala Liyanage and its Chairman Wimalasena Rubasinghe.
High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe ordered the accused to pay cash bail of Rs.20,000 each and two sureties of Rs.500,000 each.
He also imposed a foreign travel ban on the accused until the case is completed and ordered the passports be handed over to the court.
The High Court judge ordered the judicial police to release Minister Rambukwella as soon as possible since he had to attend Parliament to cast vote during the Budget.
The Bribery Commission filed the case under four indictments alleging that the accused caused a loss of Rs.990,000 to the State by arbitrarily buying 600 GI pipes for the SLRC on November 25, 2014 claiming it was for a promotional programme.
The High Court judge set the date for the pre-trial conference to be held on February 1, 2023. Counsel Hemantha Gamage appeared on behalf of Health Minister Rambukwella and informed the court that they expect to file a preliminary objection regarding the indictments.
The judge informed the counsel to submit the objection on the next court day and the case was postponed to February 1.
Source: Dinamina
