Supreme Court Reinstates Trial Before A Three-Judge Bench Over The 2015–2016 Treasury Bond Issue

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has overturned a previous ruling by the Court of Appeal that nullified the Attorney General’s decision to name former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake as an accused in a case related to the 2015–2016 Central Bank bond transactions.

This case, filed under the Public Property Act, was being heard before a three-judge bench of the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar. 

The Supreme Court delivered its ruling yesterday, in response to a special appeal filed by the Attorney General.

The judgment was delivered by Justice Mahinda Samayawardhena of the Supreme Court, with the concurrence of Justices S. Thurairaja and Janak de Silva.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal’s decision, which had invalidated the Attorney General’s move to name former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake as an accused in the relevant cases, is set aside. The Court also declared that the writ petition filed by Karunanayake in relation to that decision is dismissed.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Samayawardhena stated that complaints had been submitted regarding irregularities in the issuance of Treasury bonds by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka during the period from January 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016. These irregularities were said to have caused multi-billion-rupee losses to the national economy.

The judgment further noted that these actions not only harmed the national economy but also undermined public trust in financial governance.

Investigations into the matter were initiated by the police following a written complaint submitted on November 25, 2016, by then-Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy.

In addition, due to the widespread public concern surrounding the incident, the then-President appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate the matter.

Based on the findings of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ravi Karunanayake was named as a suspect, and a report was submitted to the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.

Subsequently, the Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant for Karunanayake’s arrest and production before the court.

Challenging the legality of the warrant, Ravi Karunanayake filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal, arguing that the warrant was unlawful and should be quashed. The Court of Appeal, upon review, issued a writ order invalidating the arrest warrant.

Following this, the Attorney General proceeded to file indictments before a three-judge bench of the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar, naming Ravi Karunanayake and several others as accused in the bond case.

In response, Karunanayake once again filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal, arguing that the Attorney General’s decision to name him as an accused was unlawful and should be nullified.

On February 28, 2023, the Court of Appeal delivered its ruling on the petition, issuing a writ order invalidating the Attorney General’s decision to name Karunanayake as an accused in the case.

The Attorney General then filed a special leave to appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

After extensive deliberation, the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal’s decision dated February 28, 2023, which invalidated the Attorney General’s action, is set aside with costs. 

The Court also declared that the writ petition filed by Karunanayake is dismissed.