Kumara Welgama discharged from the bribery case

  The Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court today ordered to release Kalutara District Parliamentarian Kumara Welgama from a corruption case following the Bribery Commission's decision to withdraw it. The Bribery Commission had filed a corruption case against MP Kumara Welgama for allegedly causing an unlawful loss to the government in 2010 after appointing an individual as a Deputy Chairman of Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) contrary to the Transport Act. The Bribery Commission informed the court it has decided to withdraw this case reserving its rights to file a fresh indictment with the written sanction of three commissioners of the Bribery Commission. The Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed this case against former Minister Welgama under section 70 of the Bribery Act on four charges. The Bribery Commission alleged that Welgama had unlawfully appointed L.A. Wimalaratne as the Deputy Chairman of the SLTB on June 23, 2010, while he was serving as the Transport Minister. The Bribery Commission further alleged that the Former Minister had paved the way for conferring a payment of Rs.3.2 million to the Deputy Chairman as his salary and other benefits, causing an unlawful loss to the Government.