The bribery case filed against President’s former Chief of Staff Kusumdasa Mahanama and former State Timber Corporation (STC) Chairman Piyadasa Dissanayaka, was fixed for further trial on September 16 by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar for further examination of witness statements.
The complainant and the key witness in the case, Indian businessman K.P. Nagaraja, testified before the Court; and the Trial-at-Bar bench comprising High Court judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne, and Champa Janaki Rajaratne, ordered further hearing of testimony to be postponed to September 16.
The accused have been charged with allegedly soliciting a bribe of Rs.540 million and accepting another Rs.20 million from an Indian investor who wished to acquire a section of the Kantale sugar factory.
The Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had filed indictments against the two accused under 24 counts; for allegedly committing offences under Sections 19(b), 19(c), 25(2), and 25(3) of the Bribery Act.
The two accused were arrested by CIABOC officers in the car park of a luxury hotel in Colombo on May 3, 2018, while they were accepting a bribe of Rs.20 million.
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