Why did the Bribery Commission withdraw the indictment against Cabral.

The case filed against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral and several other defendants, alleging that they caused losses to the government by investing over Rs. 184 million belonging to the Sri Lankan government in bonds of that country when Greece was undergoing a severe economic crisis in 2012, was taken up at the Colombo High Court today.

When the case was taken up before High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal, the lawyers of the Commission for the Prevention of Bribery or Corruption, who presented their arguments before the court, informed the court that they would withdraw the indictments filed against the defendants.

The Bribery Commission, while presenting evidence to the court, stated that it was prepared to withdraw the charges against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, subject to the condition of recovering the amount of Rs. 1,843,267,595.65, which was stated in the charge sheet to have caused losses to the government, as a fine.

Accordingly, the Bribery Commission withdrew the charges against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal under Section 67(3) of the Anti-Corruption Act, and thereafter, the Colombo High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal ordered his release.

Also, the other defendants named in this case were former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dharmasena Dheerasinghe, Assistant Governors Don Wasantha Ananda Silva, M.A. The judge also ordered the unconditional release of Karunaratne under Section 194(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In this regard, a statement issued by the Bribery Commission states that in terms of Section 67(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the accused must deposit the amount of Rs. 1,843,267,595.65 (1.8 billion) pertaining to this case into the account of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as a fine within 3 months from the date of withdrawal of the indictment against him. Failure to do so will result in the filing of a case against him under Section 67(5) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the statement issued by the Commission states.