A former court attendant attached to a High Court judge has been remanded until September 22 for allegedly accepting Rs. 750,000 from the wife of former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena after claiming that he could secure a lighter sentence for Gunawardena in a bribery case.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama issued the order after considering submissions by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, which said investigations were also under way into an Attanagalla court official and a bookbinder attached to the Colombo High Court over their alleged involvement in the incident.
The suspect, identified as G.A. Charith Kumara, was arrested following an investigation launched on a complaint made to CIABOC by a Colombo High Court judge.
On June 9, Colombo High Court Judge Mohammed Mihal sentenced Gunawardena, a former Chairman of the Development Lotteries Board, after finding him guilty of 18 charges relating to the misuse of vehicles belonging to the Board. The judge ordered that the sentences be served concurrently over a period of 16 years.
When the case against the court attendant was taken up, CIABOC informed the Magistrate’s Court about a telephone call the suspect had allegedly made to the High Court judge.
According to CIABOC officers, the suspect had contacted the judge and inquired about a case, prompting the judge to ask: “Who are you to discuss cases with me?”
The suspect had then allegedly told the judge: “This matter cannot be discussed in court, but it can be discussed in person.”
The judge subsequently lodged a complaint with CIABOC regarding the telephone call.
CIABOC told the court that an examination of the suspect’s mobile phone following his arrest had revealed WhatsApp conversations between him and Gunawardena’s wife.
The Commission further said receipts produced during the investigation indicated that a total of Rs. 750,000 had been deposited into an account on several occasions.
Further investigations had revealed that a person said to be a bookbinder attached to the Colombo High Court had allegedly received Rs. 500,000 of the Rs. 750,000, CIABOC said. The Commission said the individual would be summoned to record a statement.
CIABOC officers also informed the court that further investigations were being conducted into an official attached to the Attanagalla court who was allegedly linked to the incident. They requested that the suspect be remanded.
Appearing for the suspect, defence counsel argued that his client had attempted to inform the High Court judge about the alleged transaction to protect the judge from any possible reputational damage.
The lawyer said the facts surrounding the case were serious and complex and that he would refrain from discussing them in detail because the matter had to be approached with extreme caution.
He further argued that the bank account mentioned in messages found on his client’s WhatsApp account did not belong to the suspect and requested that he be released on bail.
After considering all submissions, the Chief Magistrate directed CIABOC to immediately investigate the alleged involvement of the Colombo High Court bookbinder and the Attanagalla court official and report its findings to the court.
The Magistrate rejected the bail application and ordered that the suspect be remanded until September 22.
CIABOC was directed to report the progress of its investigation on that date, while the Superintendent of Prisons was ordered to produce the suspect before the court.
