Arjun Aloysius and two others jailed for six months for defaulting VAT payment

• Court refuses bail to Arjun Aloysius and two others
• The trio failed to pay Rs. 3.5Bn VAT to IRD for the period between 2016 and 2019 

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
Three Directors of W.M. Mendis and Company Ltd- Arjun Aloysius, A.R. Dinendra John, and Prasanna Kumarasiri de Silva- were sentenced yesterday to a six-month jail term by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court for defaulting on the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to Rs. 3.5 billion.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Bandara Ilangasinghe issued this order, taking into consideration that the three respondents had failed to pay the specified amount to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), as ordered by the court on November 14, 2023.
When the case was called before the court, the respondents were present, and it was revealed that arrest warrants had been issued against them for failing to appear in court on a previous occasion.
The Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department had initiated legal action against the respondents for defaulting on VAT payments, totalling Rs. 3.5 billion, owed to the government between 2016 and 2019. Meanwhile  the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday refused to release three Directors of W.M. Mendis and Company Ltd. - Arjun Aloysius, A.R. Dinendra John, and Prasanna Kumarasiri De Silva on bail, in a bail pending appeal.  
The three directors had been sentenced earlier yesterday to a six-month jail term by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court for defaulting on the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to Rs. 3.5 billion.   The respondents filed an appeal in the Colombo High Court, through the Magistrate’s Court Registrar’s Office, challenging the order that sentenced them to six months of imprisonment. After the conviction, on filing an appeal, the respondents are entitled to seek bail and thereby sought bail from Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.