Court recalls arrest warrants on Avant-Garde & ex-Rakna Lanka chairmen
August 7, 2019 02:38 pm
The Colombo High Court today (07) ordered to recall the arrest warrants issued on Chairman of Avant-Garde Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi and former Chairman of Rakna Lanka Major General (Retired) Palitha Fernando, who are currently out on bail.
The order was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Shashi Mahendran after in-depth consideration into the submissions presented by the defence attorneys.
Attorneys representing Avant-Garde chairman told the court that their client has undergone three surgeries in Singapore and is due to undergo two other surgeries.
Palitha Fernando’s attorneys informed the court that their client is currently remanded over another lawsuit.
Accordingly, the defence attorneys sought the Colombo High Court to recall the arrest warrants issued on the Avant-Garde chairman and former Rakna Lanka chairman.
Delivering the order to take up the case again on the 4th of September, the High Court judge called for a medical report from the Avant-Garde chairman’s attorneys, certified by the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore on the current health condition of the defendant.
The High Court judge also issued notices to the Superintendent of Prisons to produce former Rakna Lanka chairman before the court for the next hearing of the case.
Meanwhile, the seven sureties of the two defendants presented themselves before the court today complying with the notices issued by the Colombo High Court at a prior occasion.
The High Court judge ordered the two defendants to appear before the court at the next hearing of the case and to hand over their passports to the court.
The Bribery Commission had filed a case with the Colombo Magistrate’s Court against the former Defence Secretary and eight defendants for incurring a loss of Rs 11.4 billion to the government by allegedly allowing Avant-Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armoury at the Galle Fort.
The defendants of this case include Chairman of Avant-Garde Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi, former Additional Defence Secretary Damayanthi Jayaratne, and the former Coordinating Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Palitha Fernando.
