Additional punishment if Maithri's Chief of Staff's fine is not paid

The Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar yesterday (25) informed the prison regarding the alternative punishment to be given to Dr. I.H.K. Mahanama, who served as the Chief of Staff to former President Maithripala Sirisena, if he fails to pay the imposed fine of 20 million rupees.

This notification was made based on a legal issue that has arisen concerning him, as he has been convicted of bribery and is currently serving a prison sentence.

This incident is based on a transaction carried out in 2018 to transfer the full ownership of lands, buildings, and machinery belonging to the Kantale Sugar Company to an Indian national businessman, Mr. K.P. Nagaraja. Initially, a bribe of 3 million US dollars was demanded for this, which was later reduced to 100 million rupees. On May 03, 2018, when an advance payment of 20 million rupees was being accepted, the suspects were arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

Following a lengthy trial, according to the verdict delivered by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar on December 19, 2019, the first accused, Dr. Mahanama, was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 20 million rupees. The second accused in the same case, Mr. P. Dissanayake, former chairman of the State Timber Corporation, was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of 55,000 rupees. An appeal filed by the respondents against this verdict was heard by a five-member bench of judges in the Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the sentences on January 11, 2023.

However, a legal issue has now arisen because the original court verdict did not explicitly state the additional period of imprisonment Dr. Mahanama must serve if he fails to pay the 20 million rupee fine. Inquiring about the steps to be taken in this regard, the Department of Prisons submitted a motion to the court on the 13th, where the High Court bench pointed out that their court has no legal authority to issue new orders regarding an additional prison sentence not mentioned in the original verdict.

This case was heard before the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar, presided over by High Court Judge Priyantha Liyanage, and comprising Judges Viraj Weerasuriya and Thilakarathna Bandara. According to the orders issued, Assistant Director General Subhashini Siriwardena, appearing for the Bribery Commission, yesterday (25) submitted to the court a proposal including the recovery of fines and alternative legal actions that can be imposed in lieu of non-payment of fines, under Section 291 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979.