Former Director of the Presidential Special Projects Unit and former Presidential Secretary’s Office official, Sugeeshwara Bandara, was today (08) further remanded until July 22 after the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court ruled that no exceptional circumstances had been presented to justify granting bail under the Public Property Act.
Delivering the bail order, Magistrate Pasan Amarasena rejected the defence’s earlier submission that Bandara should be granted bail because investigators had initially failed to file a summary of evidence under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Magistrate observed that where an Assistant Superintendent of Police or a higher-ranking officer certifies that the value of the alleged public property exceeds Rs. 25,000, bail under the Public Property Act can only be granted by the High Court unless exceptional circumstances are established. The court noted that the amount involved in the case far exceeded that threshold and that a summary of evidence had since been filed.
Following the bail ruling, officers of the Colombo Central Crimes Investigation Bureau informed the court that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had recorded a second statement in the investigation on Monday.
Investigators said that in his initial statement, Rajapaksa had claimed that the funds allocated for his Personal Secretary had not been paid to Bandara and had instead been used for other purposes. However, in his second statement, he reportedly said the money had been handed in cash to another individual and that the payment had not been recorded in the accounts.
The Magistrate questioned whether a statement had been obtained from the individual who allegedly received the money. Investigators responded that they had not yet done so because the former President had only changed his position during the second statement recorded the previous day.
Investigators also told the court that statements had been recorded from two other former directors of the Presidential Special Projects Unit, who had stated that they did not know each other. They further informed the court that statements were yet to be recorded from a large number of other individuals attached to the unit.
According to investigators, although the unit had an approved mandate, inquiries so far suggest that names of various individuals had been used on a temporary basis for political patronage and that public funds may have been utilised for political activities.
When questioned by the Magistrate on whether investigators had identified the specific political activities for which the funds were allegedly used, officers said further investigations were ongoing.
The Magistrate directed investigators to clarify at the next hearing, if a misuse of public funds had occurred, the precise manner in which the money had been misappropriated.
The case was postponed until July 22. Bandara was represented by President’s Counsel Nalinda Indatissa, Attorney-at-Law Dayasiri Jayasekara and a team of lawyers.
