A five-judge bench of the Court of Appeal has directed that corruption charges against former Co-operatives Minister Johnston Fernando and two others proceed to the High Court, rejecting their preliminary objections in a case involving alleged misuse of state funds.

The Court of Appeal has upheld corruption charges against former Minister Johnston Fernando, former Co-operative Wholesale Establishment Chairman Eraj Fernando, and former Acting Director Kaja Mohideen Mohamed Shakir. A five-judge bench comprising Justices P. Kumararatnam, D. Thotawatta, K.M.S. Dissanayake, K.P.E. Fernando and Annalingam Premashankar ordered that the case proceed before the High Court after rejecting all preliminary objections filed by the accused.

The allegations centre on activities between 2010 and 2014, when employees of the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment were allegedly assigned to duties unrelated to their official roles while receiving salaries and overtime payments from state funds. According to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, these actions resulted in losses of approximately Rs. 60 million to the State. Indictments were filed before the Colombo High Court in 2022 under Section 70 of the Bribery Act.

The accused had challenged the case on two grounds: that the investigation lacked full approval from the Commission and that applying the Bribery (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2018 retrospectively constituted unlawful action. The Court of Appeal dismissed these arguments, allowing a revision application by the Bribery Commission and setting aside a previous High Court acquittal of the accused in one related case.

Legal observers regard the judgment as establishing significant precedent regarding the investigative authority of the Bribery Commission and the validity of proceedings under the 2018 amendment. The ruling is expected to provide important guidance on anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms in Sri Lanka.