A Colombo court has directed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to complete its investigation into former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe and report its findings.
The case was taken up on Tuesday before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama. Officials representing the Bribery Commission requested additional time to conclude the investigation and submit a progress report.
The magistrate postponed the case until December 8 and instructed the commission to update the court on the progress of its investigation at the next hearing.
Wickramasinghe faces three allegations relating to his tenure at the national carrier.
He is accused of causing a loss of US$4,512 to the government by altering the route of SriLankan Airlines Flight UL319, which had been scheduled to operate from Kuala Lumpur to Katunayake on 22 January 2014.
He also faces an allegation of causing a further loss of US$19,160 by arranging for 75 passengers travelling from the Maldives through Sri Lanka to France to be carried on Flight UL563 on 26 January 2014.
In a separate allegation, Wickramasinghe is accused of authorising the use of Rs. 1.25 million in public funds for the election campaign of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 18th Mile Post Grounds in Katunayake on 19 December 2014.
The allegations date from Wickramasinghe’s tenure as chairman of the state-owned carrier. He was arrested and remanded in 2025 over the corruption allegations before later being granted bail.
