CA acquits Lalith Weeratunga, Anusha Palpita from ‘Sil Redi’ case

By Farook Thajudeen   

The Court of Appeal yesterday acquitted former presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga and former Director-General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) Anusha Palpita from the ‘Sil Redi’ (Sil cloth) distribution case.  

They were sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment by Colombo High Court Judge Gihan Kulatunga on September 7, 2017, after being found guilty to the charge of misappropriating Rs.600 million belonging to the TRC and using it to distribute ‘Sil Redi’ during the 2015 presidential election campaign.  

Colombo High Court also imposed a fine of Rs.2 million on each of the convicts and ordered to pay Rs.50 million to the TRC as compensation.  

Later, an appeal was filed against the High Court verdict by the Lawyers of  Weeratunga and Palpita.