Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody has been served with indictments by the Colombo High Court over alleged corruption dating back to 2016. According to local media reports, the indictments were presented before the High Court after the minister appeared in response to a court summons earlier today. He was released on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each, while the court also ordered the recording of his fingerprints and submission of a formal report.

 

The case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on May 6. Sri Lanka’s anti-graft body, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), has accused Jayakody of causing a loss of about Rs. 8.86 million to the state by allegedly influencing a procurement process during his tenure at the state-run Ceylon Fertilizer Company. The development is believed to test the NPP government’s stance against corruption.