The Colombo High Court on Wednesday fixed 23 November for the start of the trial of Yoshitha Rajapaksa and former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda on corruption-related charges, after concluding the pre-trial conference in the case.
The order was made by High Court Judge Ravindra Premaratne when the case was called, NewsFirst reported at 6.45 p.m. Colombo time.
What the indictment alleges
Karannagoda is accused of causing a loss to the State by allegedly arranging an opportunity for Yoshitha Rajapaksa — a son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa — to attend a course at the Royal Navy Training College in the United Kingdom, while Karannagoda was serving as Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy.
The indictment places the conduct between 1 September 2006 and 8 June 2007.
Separate indictments have been filed against Yoshitha Rajapaksa alleging that he obtained an undue benefit as a result of that arrangement.
The pre-trial stage is over
The significance of Wednesday’s order is procedural but real: the pre-trial conference has concluded. That stage settles the matters in issue before evidence is led, and its closure is what allows a trial date to be fixed. This desk reported the pre-trial conference in this case in September; it has now run its course.
The case is distinct from the other Navy-related proceedings involving Yoshitha Rajapaksa that this desk has covered this month — the hearing over salaries paid to him and the evidence led in the High Court on that matter. Those concern payments; this one concerns the UK course and the benefit said to flow from it.
Not reported
The filing does not state the number of charges in either indictment, the statutes under which they are framed, or the amount of the loss said to have been caused to the State. It does not say how many witnesses are listed, or whether any co-accused are named beyond the two men.
It does not say whether either defendant has pleaded, what either has said in answer to the charges, or whether either is on bail. It does not say how long the trial is expected to run, or whether 23 November is fixed for the opening of evidence or for a further procedural step.
No submission by counsel on either side is reported, and no lawyer is named.
Single source. A search of other verified newsrooms found no independent report of Wednesday’s order at the time of writing: the Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing carried none, and Hiru News’s rail carried none. Ada Derana has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for some 48 consecutive days and could not be checked.
