The Colombo High Court yesterday issued a notice against former Minister A.H.M. Fowzie for the alleged loss of over Rs. 1 million to the government, by using a vehicle provided by the Dutch government to the Disaster Management Center (DMC), for his personal work.
When the case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe, Defence Counsel informed court that accused A.H.M. Fowzie was unable to appear before the court as he was suffering from a skin disease, while producing a medical report in support.
Judge Marasinghe ordered to issue notice for the accused to appear before the Court on the next trial date of May 22.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed an indictment against the accused under four counts for alleged offence of corruption under the Bribery Act, alleging that former Minister Fowzie used a vehicle provided by the Dutch government to the DMC, for personal use, thus causing a loss of Rs. 1, 073, 334.93 to the government.
On a previous occasion, when the indictment was served on former Minister Fowzie, he was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs.25,000 with two sureties of Rs.500,000 by the Colombo High Court.
Dilshan Tharaka