Next Phase of Bond Scam Trial Set for July 22

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Colombo High Court ordered that the high-profile case filed against 11 defendants, including former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, in connection with the Central Bank Bond Scam, be recalled on July 22.

The order was issued when the case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Thilakaratne.

During proceedings, the judge stated that the three-judge bench set to hear the case had not been properly constituted, prompting the need to fix a new date for further action.

Accordingly, the court announced that the case will be taken up again on July 22 to proceed with the next steps.

When the case was called today, several defendants were present in court, including Perpetual Treasuries Limited, former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, company directors Geoffrey Aloysius and Arjun Aloysius, its Chief Executive Officer Kasun Palisena, Pushya Mithra Gunawardena, Chiththa Ranjan Hulugalle, Muthuraja Surendran, and Saman Kumara.

However, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and accused Ajahn Gardiya Punchihewa, who are listed as the third and ninth defendants in the case, were not present in court.

The case has been filed by the Attorney General under the Public Property Act, accusing the defendants of criminal breach of trust in relation to the controversial bond auction conducted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 2016.