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'Ex-BoI chief handwrote document to solicit bribe'

The Examiner of the Questioned Documents (EQD) was further cross examined in the Colombo High Court on September 19 by Counsel appearing on behalf of former BoI Chairman Thilan Wijesinghe regarding the differences in Wijesinghe's writings compared with the writing in the questioned document.

In the indictment filed against Wijesinghe by the Commission of Investigation, Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, it is alleged that Wijesinghe handwrote the questioned document to solicit a bribe.

When questioned by the Defence Counsel on the letters G an Y, the EQD confirmed that the composition of the letters in Wijesinghe's writing samples were of a different format to that in the questioned document. The EQD attributed this differences to a 'natural variation'.

Counsel further questioned the EQD on connecting letters J and E. The EQD confirmed that in the questioned document, the manner in which the capital J and capital E are connected is different to the known samples of Wijesinghe's handwriting. With regard to the connecting letters E & S, the EQD confirmed that in the questioned document, the center line of E connects with the top of the letter S. However, in the known writing of Wijesinghe, the bottom line of E touches the bottom of the letter S. The Counsel for the defence also pointed out that the questioned document had an instance where the three letters J, E, and S were connected to each other.

He also pointed out that in the known samples of Wijesinghe, the JES formation had been written on 16 occasions. Under cross-examination, the EQD confirmed that the manner in which these three letters were connected in the questioned document is not present in the known samples. He admitted that whilst connections between these letters were seen in Wijesinghe's writing, the connection occurred at points, which were different to that in the questioned document.

Counsel then commented that if the EQD is able to give an opinion that despite these differences, Wijesinghe wrote the questioned note, there couldn't be any scientific basis for giving an opinion on the identity of handwriting. The EQD then admitted that there was no scientific basis and that he was merely expressing his opinion to enable the Court to make a suitable determination.

The EQD was further questioned regarding the number of pen strokes used in the composition of the JES connection in the questioned document. He commented that in this case, three pen strokes had been used. However, he admitted that he could not identify a single occasion in the known writing of Wijesinghe where, J, E and S had been composed with three pen strokes. According to him, Wijesinghe's writing, the number of pen strokes used is more than three.

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