Former National Transport Commission chairman Renuka Perera has been released on bail, twelve days after the Bribery Commission arrested him over the issuing of 56 Southern Expressway bus permits.
He was released by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama, the Daily Mirror reported. Newswire reported the terms as two surety bails of Rs. 5 million each, ordered after he was produced before court on Tuesday.
The release came on the day his remand expired. Perera was arrested by CIABOC on September 17 and remanded by the same court until September 29.
The case against him
The commission alleges Perera issued 56 passenger service permits for the Southern Expressway outside the procedure laid down in the National Transport Commission Act No. 37 of 1991, and contrary to recommendations in a Cabinet decision of 19 September 2014.
The second strand is financial: that he failed to collect the mandatory annual licence fees in a single payment as required. CIABOC says the combination caused unlawful losses to the state while conferring improper advantages on private operators.
At his first appearance the commission told the court that of the 56 permits, 30 were allocated in connection with his committee and the remaining 26 were distributed at Perera’s own discretion — splitting the allegation into irregular committee allocation and personal distribution outside any committee process.
Expressway passenger service permits are among the most commercially valuable licences the NTC issues, governing who may run services on the country’s highest-traffic corridor. The Daily Mirror identified Perera as a member of the SLPP when he was arrested.
What bail does and does not settle
Release on bail ends the custodial stage; it does not dispose of the case, and the surety figure is not a measure of the alleged loss. Neither outlet reports any conditions attached beyond the two sureties — no travel restriction, reporting requirement or passport impounding is mentioned — and neither gives the next court date.
Neither account states the value of the losses alleged, the dates the permits were issued, or the period Perera chaired the commission. Neither carries a response from him, his lawyers or the SLPP. The identities of those who received the 26 discretionary permits have still not been reported.