The Supreme Court has deferred its decision on the contempt of court case against Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, Harsha Ilukpitiya, to September 23, despite an earlier announcement that sentencing would be delivered today (July 24).
Ilukpitiya, who has been in remand custody for over 10 months, faces contempt charges for failing to comply with a Supreme Court order related to the controversial e-visa contract awarded to GBS Technology Services & IVS Global-FZCO, a VFS VF Worldwide Holdings LTD-led consortium.
The Sri Lankan government, as part of the digital transformation and modernisation of the visa system, appointed a consortium comprising IVS-GBS as primary partners and VFS Global as technical partner to develop and manage the new Evisa platform.
He had previously admitted to disobeying the court’s directive and offered an unconditional apology during proceedings.
In August last year, the Supreme Court issued an Interim Order temporarily halting the Cabinet’s decision to outsource the visa application process to the said consortium.
The court also ordered the reinstatement of the previous Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system, which Harsha Ilukpitiya failed to implement—leading to his arrest.
The petition against Ilukpitiya was filed by former ministers Rauff Hakeem, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and former MP M.A. Sumanthiran, who accused him of undermining judicial authority by disregarding a court ruling.
Ranawaka, who has been vocal about the e-visa deal, described the contempt issue as part of a wider corruption scandal that allegedly caused a Rs. 3.71 billion loss to the state. He also raised concerns over the delay in releasing the forensic audit into the agreement, which Parliament had called for on July 12.
The e-visa controversy gained public attention after a local passenger’s complaint about high fees went viral on social media. Investigations later revealed that the contract had been awarded without a formal bidding process, depriving the Department of Immigration and Emigration of the opportunity to secure competitive rates.
Ilukpitiya was arrested in September 2024 for failing to comply with the Supreme Court order to revert to the previous visa issuance system. (Newswire)
