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Dr. Corea on court verdict
Former UNCTAD head and well-known economist Gamani Corea yesterday told The Sunday Times that he was unaware of court proceedings to declare his cousin Lalith Kotelawela as his manager and guardian.

Responding to a court order this week making the declaration, the 77-year-old one-time deputy governor of the Central Bank said he was not summoned to court and that he came to know about the matter only when he read the daily newspapers.

"The whole thing is in a bit of a mess," Dr. Corea told The SundayTimes last night. On Friday, the Colombo District Court declared Lalith Kotelawela as Manager and Guardian of Dr. Corea on an application made on the basis that the famous economist was suffering from Alzheimer's disease rendering him mentally ill, feeble, infirm and defective and that he was unable to manage his own affairs.

Counsel appearing in support of the application told court that Dr. Corea was suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease and was not contesting the medical reports.

He said people with ulterior motives were trying to intervene in this case, but court had disallowed them from such intervention. The District Judge then permitted Mr. Kotelawela to be appointed manager and guardian of Dr. Corea whose assets both in Sri Lanka and Switzerland are reported to be in the region of Rs. 500 million.

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