Former Parliamentarian Sarana Gunawardena, who was sentenced to three years in prison for causing losses to the government, has been granted bail after he filed an appeal before the Colombo High Court.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne ordered the defendant released on a personal bail of Rs 300,000.
When the case was taken up today through a motion filed, President’s Counsel Anil Silva informed the court that they have filed an appeal with the Colombo High Court challenging the prison sentence and therefore requested the court to release his client on bail until the final decision on that appeal is delivered.
Accordingly, the Colombo Chief Magistrate accepted the application and ordered Sarana Gunawardena released on bail.
Earlier today (07), he was imposed a three-year imprisonment in connection with charges related to misuse of state property.
Gunawardena, the former Chairman of the Development Lotteries Board (DLB), was under remand custody over a case of purchasing vehicles for the Development Lotteries Board (DLB).
He had reportedly continued to serve in the tender board of the DLB even after being elected to parliament and being appointed as a deputy minister.
Gunawardena had allegedly imported a luxury vehicle, valued at over Rs 8 million, during this time while the whereabouts of the said vehicle is still unknown.
