How Many Years Is Sarana Gunawardena’s Sentence?

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On June 9, 2026, the Colombo High Court delivered its verdict in four cases filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption against former Minister Sarana Gunawardena. Within hours, social media circles read two quite different stories. Some mainstream outlets and social media users reported that the former Minister had been sentenced to just 4 years in prison, while others said the sentence was 16 years of rigorous imprisonment. So, which is it? We investigated. Here is what we found.

Social Media Posts:

Mainstream media outlets reported that former Minister Sarana Gunawardena was sentenced to 4 years in prison, as seen below.

Facebook | Archived Link  Facebook | Archived Link

Social media users, understanding the maximum sentence received by the former Minister to be 4 years, shared posts such as the following.

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We investigated the actual length of the sentence imposed on former Minister Sarana Gunawardena.

Fact Check:

The four cases concern irregularities dating back to 2006, when Sarana Gunawardena served as Chairman of the Development Lotteries Board. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed the cases over the procurement of vehicles on a rental basis for the institution in a manner that caused losses to the government. On June 9, 2026, the Colombo High Court announced its verdict in the four cases as follows.

Mainstream Media Also Reported a Sentence of 16 Years of Rigorous Imprisonment

While some mainstream outlets put the sentence at four years, others reported that the former Minister, convicted in all four cases filed by the Bribery Commission, was sentenced to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment, calculated at four years per case. Those reports can be viewed here, here, here and here.

Court Reporters Confirmed the Sentence Is 16 Years

We contacted judicial journalists directly to verify the matter. They confirmed that the Colombo High Court sentenced Sarana Gunawardena, who was convicted on eighteen charges across the four cases filed by the Bribery Commission, to a total of 72 years in prison, with four years of rigorous imprisonment for each charge. The court ordered the 72 years to be served concurrently over 16 years. The actual term Sarana Gunawardena will serve in prison is therefore 16 years.

They also explained how the confusion arose. In the first case, Sarana Gunawardena was found guilty on all six charges and sentenced to four years for each, a total of 24 years, with all sentences ordered to run concurrently over four years.

In the second case, he was acquitted on two of the six charges and convicted on the remaining four years, receiving four years per charge for a total of 16 years, again to be served concurrently over four years.

In the third case, he was convicted on all six charges and sentenced to 24 years, four years per charge, served concurrently over four years. In the fourth case, he was found guilty on both charges and sentenced to 8 years, four years per charge, also served concurrently over four years.

In total, Sarana Gunawardena was convicted on eighteen charges and sentenced to 72 years in prison. The judge ordered the sentence to be served over 16 years, four years per case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 1.8 million covering the four cases, the journalists stated.

2021 Acquittal Came on a Technical Error, not on the Merits.

The Bribery Commission had filed eight cases against Sarana Gunawardena in 2016. After five years of hearings, the court acquitted him in 2021 when it emerged that the written approval of the three commissioners had not been properly obtained. The Commission corrected the technical errors and formally filed four cases again before the Colombo High Court in 2022. The 16-year sentence relates to those four cases. More information is available here.

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Conclusion

Our investigation confirms that posts claiming former Minister Sarana Gunawardena was sentenced to only 4 years in prison over the four corruption cases filed by the Bribery Commission are misleading.

Sarana Gunawardena was convicted on eighteen charges across the four cases and sentenced to 72 years in prison, with four years of rigorous imprisonment for each charge. The court ordered the sentence to be served over 16 years, four years per case, along with a fine of Rs. 1.8 million. Court reporters who covered the verdict confirmed this directly as well.

Therefore, the total prison term Sarana Gunawardena will serve is 16 years, not four.