Court overrules Johnston’s objections on legality

The Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday overruled the objections of former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others who pointed out that the prosecution’s failure to obtain the signature of the Director of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption to charges that were framed was unlawful.

The defendants therefore called for the case to be dismissed without it being taken up for hearing.

Magistrate Lanka Jayaratna overruled the prosecution and fixed trial for August 9. Former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others were charged in the Magistrate’s Court by the Bribery Commission for allegedly causing an unlawful loss of Rs. 40 million to the government by employing 153 employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) for election work between 2010 and 2014.