Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, appeared before the Court of Appeal today (16) for the hearing of a revision application seeking a ruling that a charge of “conspiracy” in the money laundering case filed against him by the Attorney General cannot be maintained.
The petition is being heard before a Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and Dr. Sumudu Premachandra.
During an earlier hearing, counsel for Rajapaksa, Hafeel Farisz, argued that while both his client and a woman identified as Daisy Forrest had originally been named as accused in the case, the Attorney General had subsequently discharged Forrest from the proceedings. He contended that it was therefore contrary to law to proceed with a conspiracy charge against Rajapaksa alone.
However, Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara, appearing for the Attorney General, maintained that a conspiracy charge could be sustained even against a single accused person under certain circumstances.
The Court of Appeal had previously directed that a full hearing on the matter be held today.
