Four Bribery Cases Against Sarana Gunawardena to Be Heard in November

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Colombo High Court yesterday ordered that four cases filed against former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), be taken up for trial.

The cases were filed over allegations that Gunawardena, while serving as Chairman of the National Lotteries Board in 2006, had caused a financial loss to the government by obtaining vehicles on a rental basis.

The cases were called following a motion filed by Gunawardena’s attorney, seeking the possibility of concluding the cases through a guilty plea.

However, when the cases were taken up in open court, the defense informed that the accused had decided to withdraw his request to plead guilty.

Accordingly, the defense counsel requested that new dates be set for the continuation of the trials.

The court then ordered that the cases be called up again on November 19 and 25 for further hearing.