Former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and former TRC Chairman Ausha Pelpita have been acquitted from all charges in the Sil Redi case.

The Court of Appeal, delivering the ruling this morning, exonerated the two former senior state officials from the much-talked-about case.

Weeratunga and Anusha Palpita were found guilty of misappropriating Rs. 600 million of funds belonging to Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) in the controversial sil redi (fabric used by devotees to observe sil) distribution case in September 2017.

They were sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment by the Colombo High Court. However, they filed appeal petitions in the Court of Appeal challenging the judgment of the Colombo High Court.