Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal has rejected legal challenges by three individuals, including ex-Minister Johnston Fernando, and directed that corruption cases against them proceed in the High Court.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed revision applications filed by former Minister of Cooperative and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando and two others, clearing the way for their High Court trials to resume. The five-judge bench ruled on Tuesday that the cases, which involve allegations of misusing Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) staff for purposes unrelated to their official duties, should advance through the judicial system.
The three accused—Fernando, former CWE Chairman Eraj Fernando, and Acting Director Mohideen Mohamed Zakeer—face charges under Section 70 of the Bribery Act. According to prosecutors, government employees were assigned tasks outside their regular responsibilities while their salaries and overtime payments were drawn from CWE funds, resulting in estimated losses of approximately Rs. 60 million to the state. Indictments were initially filed in 2022 before the Colombo High Court.
The defendants had contested the indictments on several grounds, arguing that investigations lacked proper Commission approval and that the application of the Bribery Amendment Act No. 22 of 2018 to alleged conduct predating its passage constituted retrospective legislation. In one case, the High Court had initially accepted these preliminary objections and ordered the release of the accused, prompting the Commission to appeal that decision.
The Court of Appeal, comprising Justices P. Kumaratnam, D. Thotawatta, K.M.S. Disanayake, K.P.E. Fernando, and Annalingam Premashankar, upheld the Commission's position. The bench allowed the state's revision application, overturned the earlier High Court order releasing the accused, and rejected all legal challenges submitted by the defendants, directing that trials proceed at the High Court level.
