The Colombo High Court today ordered the defence to lead the evidence of former Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte and the other witnesses in the case against Anuruddha Ratwatte, for allegedly failing to declare the mode of the earnings of his assets amounting to Rs. 33 million to the Commission to investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

The Counsel for Anuruddha Ratwatte earlier moved to dismiss the case without calling for witnesses against the former Minister who was accused of earning unlawful money.

The request was overruled and High Court Judge Sunil Rajapaksa ordered the defence to lead their evidence in the case, hence former the Defence Minister was listed as a witness to give evidence to show how he earned over Rs.4.5 billion in cash and assets during the period March 31, 1997 to August 31, 2002. (T. Farook Thajudeen)