Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa and 7 others have been discharged and released from the Avant Garde case.
This is as per the order of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court after receiving the Court of Appeal judgment on the case.
The Bribery Commission had filed a case with the Colombo Magistrate’s Court against the former Defense Secretary and eight defendants for incurring a loss of Rs 11.4 billion to the government by allegedly allowing Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armory at the Galle Fort.
The defendants of this case include Chairman of Avant Garde Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi, former Additional Defense Secretary Damayanthi Jayaratne, and the former Coordinating Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Palitha Fernando.
Three former navy commanders Somathilaka Dissanayake, Jayanath Colombage and Jayanath Perera have also been named as defendants of the case.
However, the former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa filed a revision petition at the Appeal Court seeking a court order declaring the case illegal and to acquit him from all charges.
