Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sought an alternative date to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), after being summoned to present himself before the Commission on 13 February in connection with an ongoing investigation.

The probe relates to allegations that, during his tenure as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Rajapaksa issued letters recommending that several government-owned houses in Colombo be allocated to various individuals in a manner deemed unlawful.

Rajapaksa has previously been summoned on multiple occasions to provide evidence in the case concerning the disappearance of political and human rights activists Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan. However, he did not appear on any of those occasions.

When first summoned to court in 2019, Rajapaksa had cited overseas travel for medical treatment as the reason for his absence. Subsequently, he informed the court that he was unable to appear before the Jaffna court due to security concerns.

He later refrained from appearing, citing presidential immunity. Thereafter, he sought permission to provide evidence remotely by way of an affidavit.