Colombo High Court Judge Pradeep Abeyratne has granted permission to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to amend the indictment filed against former Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena.
The CIABOC sought the court’s approval yesterday (20) to make several amendments after making submissions regarding the case.
Subsequent to the court’s approval, an Attorney-at-Law, appearing for the CIABOC, handed over a CD, containing documents related to the indictment, to the defence lawyers.
Former Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, appearing for the defendant, asserted that it would be appropriate if the documents were provided as printed copies.
The CIABOC’s Attorney-at-Law pointed out the difficulty in providing printed copies as there were a large number of documents submitted as attachments.
Thereafter, Rajaratnam accepted the CD having said that in case of any issue regarding any documents he would ask for a printed copy.
The Colombo High Court directed a pre-trial conference on 07 September in this particular case filed against former Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former Director General of the Board of Investment (BOI) Jayantha Edirisinghe. They have been accused of causing Rs 1.7 mn loss to the government.
The counsel for defendant said that they would present preliminary objections regarding the indictments against their client.
The judge stated that the preliminary objections should be presented at the commencement of the trial.
