COLOMBO –The Supreme Court on Monday (June 1) overturned a lower court order that released former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and several other accused persons in the Central Bank bond scam case without a full trial, ruling that the prosecution may proceed under the Public Property Act.
In what is considered a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court held that held three-judge High Court Trial-at-Bar had erred in determining that the case could not proceed under the Public Property Act.
Court ruled that the case filed by the Attorney General against those accused of causing losses to public property through the controversial 2015 Treasury Bond issuance by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka should be heard on its merits and not dismissed at the preliminary stage. The Bond issuances is widely regarded as one of Sri Lanka’s largest, and high profile financial scams.
The defendants named also include Perpetual Treasuries (Pvt.) Ltd, one of the primary dealers in Bond sale and owned by Mahendran’s son-in-law Arjun Aloysius.
The Supreme Court found that the trial court had acted incorrectly in releasing the accused without hearing the prosecution’s case and ruled that the charges brought under the Public Property Act were legally maintainable.
Accordingly, the court directed that the case be taken up for hearing without delay.
The proceedings stem from allegations relating to the February 2015 Treasury bond issuance, which prosecutors claim resulted in the misuse of public funds and significant losses to the state.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Mahinda Samayawardana, with the concurrence of Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena and Justices Shiran Gunaratne, A.H.M.D. Nawaz and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
-ENCL
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