Former Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and five others have been served indictments by the Attorney General (AG) yesterday (21) before the Colombo High Court (HC). 

This was on charges including the misuse of Government funds by illegally spending over Rs. 6.1 million from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) under the pretext of providing flood relief in December 2014. The indictments were served before Colombo HC Judge Manjula Thilakaratne. 

Subsequently, the Judge ordered that each accused be released on cash bail of Rs. 100,000 and two surety bails of Rs. 1 million each. The Judge further ordered that the fingerprints of the accused be recorded and that reports be submitted. The case was scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 1 October.

According to the AG, between 26 December 2014 and 26 January 2015, the accused, including Yapa, who was the Minister of Petroleum Resources at the time, had allegedly misused State funds by illegally spending Rs. 6,146,110 belonging to the CPC, claiming that it was to provide flood relief. The case has been filed under five charges.