The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has sentenced former Controller General of Immigration & Emigration Harsha Illukpitiya to two years of imprisonment on contempt of court charges for failing to execute a court order tied to the controversial VFS e-visa deal.
In July this year, Harsha Illukpitiya unconditionally apologized to the Supreme Court, admitting to disregarding the court’s directive concerning the e-visa contract that drew widespread criticism over alleged corruption and irregularities.
Harsha Ilukpitiya has been in remand custody since September last year after the Supreme Court ordered him to be remanded for failing to implement the Court’s order regarding the controversial visa issuance system by the global visa processing service, VFS Global.
The visa issuance system by VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident widely circulated on social media.
A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance also found that VFS Global had been selected without calling for official bids, resulting in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance.
In August last year, the Supreme Court issued an Interim Order temporarily halting the Cabinet’s decision to outsource its visa application process to GBS Technology Services & IVS Global- FZCO, a VFS VF Worldwide Holdings LTD-led consortium.
The court ordered the reinstatement of the previous quick Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) process, which the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, Harsha Ilukpitiya, failed to comply with, resulting in his arrest. (Newswire)