Former President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and former Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Director General Anusha Palpita were found guilty by the Colombo High Court in the ‘sil redi’ distribution case. 

The Colombo High Court sentenced the two men to 3 years Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) and imposed a fine of Rs. 2 million each on them, in addition asking them to a pay Rs. 50 million each to the TRC.

Colombo High Court Judge Gihan Kulatunga said Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Palpita had been found guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ on two counts in the case that saw the misappropriation of Rs. 600 million during the 2015 Presidential Election.

Rs. 600 million belonging to the TRC was misappropriated in the run up to the 2015 Presidential Election between October 2014 and January 2015 and used to distribute ‘sil redi’ – fabric used by devotees to observe sil – to potential voters.