Court refuses to acquit Gotabaya and others in Avant Garde case

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today rejected the request made eight defendants, including former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to clear them from all the charges in the Avant Garde case.

The eight have been accused of causing Rs. 11.4 billion in losses to the government by allowing Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armoury. 

Raising objections, when the case had been taken up recently, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva representing the former Defence Secretary had informed the court that the approval granted by the Bribery Commission when filing the case has not been filed before the court. 

Therefore he requested from the court that all defendants be acquitted as it was against the law to proceed with the case without that written approval. 

However, Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara rejected the request and announced in open court that presenting the Bribery Commission’s approval to the court was not necessary for a case filed by the commission.