SC affirms HC ruling on ex-Prez’s top aide, associate sentenced to RI for taking bribes

The Supreme Court, yesterday (11), affirmed the conviction and sentence imposed by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar against ex-President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff, Kusumdasa Mahanama, and one-time State Timber Corporation (STC) Chairman, Piyadasa Dissanayaka, in the Kantale sugar factory bribery case that took place in 2018.

Mahanama received a 20-year sentence of RI for soliciting a bribe from an Indian investor, who wished to acquire a section of the Kantale sugar factory. Dissanayaka was sentenced to 12-year-rigorous imprisonment for being an accomplice.

The Supreme Court five-judge-bench, comprising Justices Vijith K. Malalgoda, L.T.B. Dehideniya, Preethi Padman Surasena, S. Thurairaja and Yasantha Kodagoda, observed that there had been neither illegality nor abuse of power in the manner the officers of the Bribery Commission conducted the investigation against the accused.

The two accused sought the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to review and set aside the conviction imposed by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar on December 19, 2019.

Officers of the Bribery Commission arrested them in the car park of a luxury hotel in Colombo, on May 3, 2018, while they were accepting a bribe of Rs.20 million.