The three-judge bench freed Sumathipala who had been in remand custody for over 150 days. He was asked to post a 250,000 rupee (2,500 dollars) bond.

The bail hearing was taken up 18 times before he was freed Friday in a high-profile case which had attracted unprecedented media attention.

Sumathipala was arrested in January amid police investigations into allegations that he had helped a criminal to travel abroad on a forged passport.

He was then the president of Sri Lanka Cricket as well as the chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom, the main carrier which is partly owned and fully managed by NTT of Japan.

Sumathipala formally ended his term as cricket chief in March, but was promptly named the top envoy to represent the country's cricket interests abroad.

In January, his co-accused was shot dead while making a court appearance with his prison guards.