Badulla District Parliamentarian Chamara Sampath Dassanayake was released on bail today (19) by Badulla Magistrate Nujith de Silva, following the consideration of a bail application related to an ongoing legal matter.
The court granted bail with two sureties of Rs. 1 million each.
MP Dassanayake, who had been in remand custody, was presented before the Badulla Magistrate’s Court around 9:00 a.m. today. He is facing legal action under the Public Property Act, following allegations of misusing Rs. 1 million in public funds. The funds in question were reportedly allocated by a state bank in 2016 for the distribution of school bags to preschool children during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the Uva Province. The case was filed by the Criminal Investigation Department.
In a separate development, former Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, for whom an arrest warrant had been issued, appeared today at the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The warrant was issued in connection with a case involving the importation of a substandard shipment of organic fertilizer from a Chinese company during the previous administration. His legal team has reportedly filed a motion requesting that the case be taken up today (19).
