The Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court issued notice to the Director of the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) to appear on 12 October and make submissions on an anticipatory bail application filed by Shiranthi Rajapaksa seeking an order preventing her arrest.
Magistrate Janitha Roshani Perera issued the notice after considering submissions made by President’s Counsel Anil Silva when the application was taken up today (6 October).
Appearing for Rajapaksa, Silva told the court that the ‘Siriliya’ account under investigation still held more than Rs. 48 million. He said his client could not withdraw the funds because the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had suspended the account’s operations.
Silva submitted that Rajapaksa had traveled to Singapore for medical treatment and was prepared to appear before the FCID to give a statement upon returning to Sri Lanka after completing treatment.
He further told the court that he had received information about preparations to arrest her at Bandaranaike International Airport upon her return.
Maintaining that his client had no intention of evading the investigation, Silva argued that an arrest at the airport would cause her irreparable prejudice. He requested that the court consider the anticipatory bail application and issue notice to the respondent.
Rajapaksa, the wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, returned to Sri Lanka on Monday (5 October). Before leaving the country, she had been instructed to appear before the FCID on 13 October.
She had filed the application seeking an order preventing her arrest upon her return.
Editor’s note: The supplied text identifies the respondent as the FCID director in its earlier paragraphs but as the CID director in the final paragraph. It also reports submissions about a future return despite stating that Rajapaksa had already returned on 5 October. These details require clarification.
