Former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and former Director-General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Anusha Palpita have been acquitted from the ‘Sil Cloth’ case.
The verdict was given when the case was taken up before the Court of Appeal Justices Kumuduni Wickramasinghe and Devika Abeyratne today (November 19).
Announcing the verdict, Judge Kumuduni Wickramasinghe said that the decision was taken after a detailed analysis of the submissions made by the petitioners and the Attorney General.
Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Palpita were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and charged a penalty of Rs. 5 million for the alleged misappropriation of Rs 650 million of state funds to distribute ‘Sil cloths’ to people during the presidential election campaign in 2015.
The Appeals Court later released the two defendants on bail, after they appealed the verdict.
A temporary travel ban was imposed on the duo when they were bailed by the Appeals Court, before it was lifted in March 2020.
