The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has ordered the release on bail of former Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal De Silva, who was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over a corruption-related charge.
The order was issued by Colombo Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama after considering submissions made by the CIABOC and the counsel appearing for the suspect.
Accordingly, the court directed that the suspect be released on two surety bails of Rs. 5 million each.
The Magistrate also imposed an overseas travel ban on the suspect and ordered that his passport be surrendered to the court.
The case has been filed over alleged irregularities in the use of Rs. 16.5 million allocated for the Southern Provincial Council members’ development fund in 2019, for the procurement of chairs for public voluntary associations in the Southern Province.
It is alleged that a manufacturing company was selected outside the approved procurement procedure, thereby conferring an undue advantage to the supplier.
Investigations further claim that 16,361 chairs purchased under the project were distributed to 54 provincial council members across the three districts of the Southern Province and delivered to their offices, allegedly causing financial loss to the state due to deviations from established procurement procedures.
