Arrest warrant against Johnston Fernando recalled by Court

Colombo ,November 1 (Daily Mirror)-The Colombo High Court today recalled the arrest warrant issued against former Minister Johnston Fernando after he appeared before court.

On October 23, the Colombo High Court issued a warrant for Fernando’s arrest for failing to appear before court in connection with a corruption case filed by the Bribery Commission.

The defense counsel informed the court that their client was unable to attend the previous hearing as he was providing a statement to the CID in compliance with an undertaking given to the Court of Appeal. 

Taking these facts into consideration, High Court Judge Manjula Tilakaratne ordered Johnston Fernando to be released on a cash bail of Rs.25,000 and a surety bail of one million rupees.

The Bribery Commission filed this corruption case against former Minister Johnston Fernando, former CWE (Lak Sathosa) Chairman Eraj Fernando and former Minister’s Private Secretary Raj Mohideen Mohammad Sakeer for allegedly causing an unlawful loss to the government by engaging the employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) in election work.

President’s Counsel Kalinga Indatissa with Counsel Wasimul Akram, Neranjan Iriyagolla and Ajith Wickramasinghe appeared for Johnston Fernando.