High Court serves indictments on Johnston Fernando and two others

The Colombo High Court today served indictments on former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others over another corruption case filed against them by the Bribery Commission.

High Court judge Namal Balalle  ordered each accused to be released on bail. 

Defence Counsel informed court that they are expecting to bring preliminary objections against the indictments. The Case was fixed for trial on November 1. 

The Bribery Commission filed this corruption case against former Minister Johnston 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 employing the employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) for election work during the period 2011.

The Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed this corruption case against three accused under Section 70 of the Bribery Act on four charges.

The Bribery Commission alleged that the first accused Johnston Fernando had unlawfully employed Sathosa employees for election work during the period 2011, while Minister Johnston Fernando was serving as the Cooperative and Internal Trade Minister. The Bribery Commission had filed five separate cases against the accused regarding this incident.