The Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar has acquitted the Chairman of the Avant Garde Maritime Services Company Nissanka Senadhipathi and the seven other defendants over the operating of a floating armoury in the seas off Galle.

The case was heard before a three-judge bench comprising Justices Aditya Patabendige, Manjula Tilakaratne and Mahen Weeraman.

The Trial-at-Bar had concluded the hearing of the case on April 28 while its unanimous decision was delivered today (May 21).

The other defendants acquitted by the court includes former Chairman of Rakna Lanka Security Company Victor Samaraweera, Vishwajith Nandana Diyabalanage, Nilupul de Costa, former Additional Secretary of the Defence Ministry Saman Dissanayake, Albert Thilakaratne and the Ukrainian Captain of the ship, Gennadiy Gavrylov.

P.B. Premachandra, who had also been named as a defendant in the case, had passed away during the trial.

Delivering the verdict, Justice Aditya Patabendige pointed out that former defence secretary Karunasena Hettiarchchi, who had given evidence during the trial, had stated that Avant Garde Maritime Services and Rakna Lanka, which was under the Defence Ministry, had been given permission to operate a floating armoury in the Red Sea.

Chairman of the Avant Garde Maritime Services Company Nissanka Senadhipathi and the other defendants had been accused of operating a floating armory onboard the MV Avant Garde in the seas off Galle harbor.

The defendants were accused of causing a financial loss to the tune of 11.4 billion rupees to the Government by granting approval to the Avant Garde Maritime Services to operate a floating armory in Galle Harbor during the period from 07 August 2012 to 8 January 2015.