Chamara granted bail in 4 out of 5 cases - remanded until Nov 06 as bail was denied for one.

Although he managed to obtain bail under strict conditions in relation to four complaints filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Member of Parliament Chamara Sampath Dasanayake was unable to escape the phosphate case involving a bribe exceeding eighty lakh rupees today (23). Accordingly, Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S.

Bodaragama ordered.

The Badulla District New Democratic Front MP, who was presented to court hoping for temporary relief from the remand cell where he was detained, was granted bail today for four out of the five cases filed by the Bribery Commission. The Magistrate, having considered the submissions made by the Bribery Commission officials and the lawyers for the defense, ordered two personal sureties of ten lakh rupees each for each of the four cases for each of the suspects. In addition, their foreign travel was prohibited, and those cases were ordered to be recalled on January 26th next year.

However, they lost their freedom due to a large-scale irregularity alleged to have occurred during the issuance of phosphate export licenses. The court rejected the bail application submitted in relation to the charge of accepting a bribe between 81 and 84 lakh rupees and aiding and abetting it, by influencing the issuance of export licenses to three private companies without proper procedure through Lanka Phosphate Company.

As pointed out by the Bribery Commission, these bribe monies were obtained as 22 lakh rupees from D.M. Traders, 59 lakh rupees from Thissaru International, and three lakh rupees from another company. The special feature is that these funds were credited to the bank account of Sumathipala Liyanarachchi, who was then the MP's private secretary and is named as the third suspect in this case. The Commission further alleges that these funds were used for political propaganda activities.

The other complaints filed against him are based on incidents of accepting money from gem businessmen to allow them to conduct their businesses without interference. Those cases allege that he accepted a bribe of approximately 24 lakh rupees, by demanding twelve lakh rupees from Punsiri Gems and receiving five lakh from it, ten lakh rupees from Subhash Gems, and two lakh rupees from Priyantha Gems.

It is said that these corrupt acts occurred during the period from September 08, 2022, to September 23, 2024, when he served as the State Minister of Primary Industries. As a result of a lengthy investigation initiated by the Bribery Commission following an anonymous complaint received in 2023, Chamara Sampath Dasanayake was arrested on October 12th last year and has been in remand custody since that day.

This is not the first time the former State Minister of Primary Industries, as well as the former Chief Minister of Uva Province, has had to face the law on such serious charges. While serving as the Chief Minister of Uva, a case of illegally obtaining approximately ten lakh rupees from state banks under the guise of providing school bags to preschool children, as well as another High Court case related to fixed deposit accounts, is also recorded against his name. In light of past cases and five new bribery charges, the MP and his secretary will now spend their time in remand prison until November 06.