Former North-Central Province Chief Minister S.M. Ranjith and his former secretary Shanthini Chandrasena have filed petitions before the Court of Appeal against their sentence of 16 years of rigorous imprisonment for corruption charges.
The appeal has been transferred to the Colombo High Court for presentation before the Court of Appeal.
In the appeal petition, the petitioners claim that the High Court judge had not taken up for consideration the facts they presented during the relevant trial when announcing his decision.
Accordingly, they have requested the Court of Appeal to acquit them of the relevant charges.
The Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced S.M. Ranjith and Shanthini Chandrasena each to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment for corruption charges brought by the Bribery Commission.
S.M. Ranjith, while serving as the North Central Province Chief Minister, is accused of making arrangements to allocate fuel for the official vehicle of his private secretary Shanthini Chandrasena, despite her fuel allowance being already added to her salary.
S.M. Ranjith is the brother of former Minister S.M. Chandrasena, while Shanthini is Chandrasena’s wife. She served as the private secretary to Ranjith during his tenure as Chief Minister from 2012 to 2014.
The Bribery Commission filed a case against Shanthini Chandrasena for allegedly obtaining fuel worth Rs. 2,680,528 and Rs. 5,379,623 through vouchers during this period.
Both she and Ranjith have also been charged with influencing provincial councilors to release two additional vehicles, in addition to the Chief Minister’s two official cars and security vehicle. (Newswire)
