Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanka S. Bodaragama today (26) issued a notice to the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. He ordered him to appear before the court on October 03 and present his case regarding the anticipatory bail application filed by former Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara.
Former Minister Manusha Nanayakkara has filed this anticipatory bail application naming the Director General of the Bribery Commission and the Head of the Investigation Division as respondents.
The petitioner requested that he be granted anticipatory bail if he is arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into the deployment of Sri Lankan workers for jobs in the agricultural sector in Israel.
In his bail application, he states that in view of the current political background and the current functioning of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the former Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment is likely to be arrested for an offense for which bail cannot be granted without any legal background or evidence.
The former Minister was summoned to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on the 8th to obtain a statement regarding an agreement signed to provide jobs to Sri Lankan workers in Israel.
Since he was abroad at the time, his lawyers, who appeared before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on the 8th, have informed him in writing that their client will give a statement after his arrival in Sri Lanka. Despite this, the moment he arrived in Sri Lanka, the Commission officials came to the gate of the plane and handed over the letter to the former Minister to appear before the Commission.
Accordingly, the pending bail application to prevent the arrest of the former minister on the basis of political rivalry without any legal basis or evidence was filed before the Colombo Chief Magistrate today.
President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris, who appeared for the petitioner,