Fowzie noticed to appear before court over corruption case

Colombo, April 29 (Daily Mirror) - The Colombo High Court issued a notice today directing Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian A.H.M. Fowzie to appear before Court on May 22 over the indictment filed against him on corruption charges.

The Bribery Commission filed this corruption case against A.H.M. Fowzie for allegedly causing a Rs.1.07 million unlawful loss to the government by misusing a vehicle belonging to the Disaster Management Centre between 2010 and 2015.  

When the matter was called before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe, parliamentarian A.H.M. Fowzie was not present in court. Court was informed that he was suffering from an illness. Accordingly, the case was fixed for May 22. 
 
On a previous occasion, the defence counsel informed court that his client had requested the Bribery Commission to withdraw the indictment considering the maintainability of the indictment. 

The Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed this corruption case against the accused under Section 70 of the Bribery Act on four charges.
 
The Bribery Commission alleged that MP Fowzie had unlawfully utilised a Land Cruiser Jeep belonging to the Disaster Management Centre between 2010 and 2015, while he was serving as a Senior Minister. The value of the vehicle was estimated at Rs. 19.5 million.