Piyankara Jayaratne convicted and sentenced to seven years over SriLankan Catering May Day case
Regarding Piyankara Jayaratne
What happened?
On 1 September 2026, the Colombo High Court convicted Piyankara Jayaratne of corruption/abuse of ministerial office, over pressuring a SriLankan Catering executive to release funds (reported as roughly Rs. 320,000-330,000, figures vary by outlet) to a private caterer for a UPFA May Day rally in 2014. He was sentenced to two seven-year rigorous-imprisonment terms, ordered to run concurrently, plus fines with default imprisonment.
What changed?
The case has moved from an ongoing trial to a conviction and sentence. Jayaratne is now serving a prison term. As of the most recent verification, no appeal had been filed.
What happens next?
No confirmed next step yet. No appeal had been reported as of 5 September 2026, four days after sentencing. Nadu will publish a follow-up Update if one is filed.
The case
People involved
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