The Colombo High Court granted bail on Friday to former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in a corruption case, but he was returned to prison because he could not meet the bail conditions.
High Court Judge Rashantha Godawela issued the bail order when the case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) was taken up. Bogollagama is expected to stay in remand custody until 25 November, when the case is next called.
The court also rejected a request by the defence to acquit Bogollagama without calling for defence evidence. It ordered the defence to present its case. The judge directed prison authorities to produce him in court on 25 November.
Bogollagama, who also served as Governor of the Eastern Province, had been remanded earlier after repeatedly failing to appear in court in the corruption case. The High Court had issued several warrants for his arrest, and proceedings began in his absence in 2025 because he continued to miss the trial.
The case was filed by the Bribery Commission in 2020. It alleges that Bogollagama induced the Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) to authorise payments of more than Rs. 1.5 million, contrary to Treasury regulations.
The payments were allegedly made for hotel accommodation and exhibition expenses during an investment promotion event organised by the BOI in London in 2006. He faces charges of corruption under the Bribery Act in connection with the transaction. The charges have not been proved in court.
Background
CIABOC investigates allegations of bribery and corruption and files cases in the High Court. A High Court can grant bail on conditions, usually including a cash or surety requirement, and a defendant who cannot meet them stays in custody even after the bail order is made.
A defence request to acquit before defence evidence is a request that the court find the prosecution case too weak to go on. By rejecting it, the court has required the defence to present its case. The Bribery Act is the law under which the charges were framed.
Bogollagama’s case has been in court since 2020. The warrants and the decision to hear it in his absence in 2025 reflect the court’s response to his earlier failure to appear.
What it means
The case remains in its trial stage, with the defence now due to present its evidence. The next date is 25 November.
For members of the public, the case is one of several Bribery Commission prosecutions involving former office-holders that are before Sri Lankan courts. Each is decided on the evidence presented, and no verdict has been given in this one.
