Minister Prasanna Ranatunga sentenced to 2 years suspended imprisonment

Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has been sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment, suspended for five years over a land issue.

The Colombo High Court issued the order over a case filed against him with regards to a land dispute.

Ranatunga was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs. 25 million and a compensation of Rs. 1 million to a businessman who filed the case against the Minister.

Ranatunga, who is the incumbent Minister of Urban Development and Housing, was accused of threatening a businessman named Gerard Mendis and demanding Rs. 64 million to evict unauthorized occupants of a land in the Meethotamulla area in Kolonnawa and to refill the land, during his tenure as Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, Maureen Ranatunge, the wife of Minister Ranatunga and Naresh Kumar Fareek second and third accused respectively were acquitted and released from all charges filed against them. 

Minister Ranatunga was ordered be acquitted and released from the rest of the charges on the basis that the prosecution has failed to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The prosecutors maintained that businessman Gehard Mendis who purchased a 2.5 acre land in Meethotamulla sometime back had allegedly requested the former Chief Minister to evacuate the unlawful occupants of that land and fill it with soil. 

The prosecutors alleged that the Minister’s wife along with two others had entered into an agreement with the businessman to run this deal and the latter had already paid Rs.15 million to the former for the services.
 
The businessman Gehard Mendis had lodged a complaint with FCID saying that the former Chief Minister had threatened him over the phone demanding the rest of the money involved in a promised deal.

The prosecution maintained that the investigations have revealed that the accused had misappropriated a sum of Rs.15 million and the voice recordings of the alleged incident had been listed as a production item.