The Colombo High Court today (10) dismissed a preliminary objection filed by the defense in the corruption case against former Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former BOI Director General Jayanta Edirisinghe.
The defense requested that the case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption be thrown out. However, High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal rejected the objection and ordered the trial to proceed.
A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for December 16.
The case concerns allegations that, on November 19, 2014, BOI funds were misused to publish supplementary advertisements in 11 newspapers promoting Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second presidential bid, causing a government loss of more than Rs. 1.7 million.
The Bribery Commission states that the act amounts to an offence under the Corruption Act.
The prosecution plans to call 15 witnesses and present 21 documents during the trial.
