Private insurance companies bribed General Managers to obtain audit reports.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama ordered the release on bail of a General Manager of a private insurance company who was remanded in connection with an alleged incident of giving bribes to obtain government analyst reports required for paying compensation for traffic accidents.

In addition to granting bail to the suspect, Sanath Priyantha Ranaweera, the General Manager of the Motor Technical Division of the relevant insurance company, who was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Magistrate also issued an order prohibiting his foreign travel. This decision was announced after considering a lengthy submission made by President's Counsel Ali Sabry, who appeared in court on behalf of the suspect.

The President's Counsel pointed out that the services of Mr. Jayamanna, a retired Additional Government Analyst, who has been named as the first suspect in the case by the relevant insurance company, were obtained on a completely legal basis. Furthermore, he questioned the court on what basis the Bribery Commission was targeting only his client's company with corruption charges, when several other private insurance companies had obtained analyst reports in a similar manner. Based on these facts, he requested that the suspect be granted bail.

However, officials from the Bribery Commission, who led the prosecution, informed the court that the arrest was made on charges of giving over sixty-four lakhs of rupees as bribes for illegally obtaining reports from the Government Analyst's Department and aiding and abetting corruption. They requested that the suspect be further remanded without bail, as investigations related to the incident are still ongoing.

After considering the arguments of both parties, the Chief Magistrate decided to release the suspect on bail, considering the points raised by the defense lawyer as a special circumstance. Furthermore, the Bribery Commission was further ordered to submit a detailed report including the progress of the investigations related to this incident to the court on the upcoming June 23rd.