BASIL SEEKS BAIL IN HC

Former economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday sought bail from the Colombo High Court through revision applications filed against Kaduwela Magistrate who had remanded them on fraud charges at the Divineguma Department.

High Court Judge Kusala Saroja who heard the revision applications noticed the respondents including the FCID OIC and the Attorney General to appear in Court on June 8.

Senior Counsel U.R. de Silva with President’s Counsel Jayantha Weerasekara in the revision applications filed on behalf of Mr. Rajapaksa and the other suspects said the Kaduwela Magistrate had not considered the main issues raised by the defence on behalf of their clients.

The Counsel informed Court that the Kaduwela Magistrate had turned down the bail application on May 27, even though the Senior State Counsel had specifically mentioned that they have completed the investigations and would finalise the indictment process within a few days. They informed Court that none of the suspects received any financial benefits from those transactions which fact was not considered by the Magistrate and had resulted in the suspects being in remand for more than a month.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rajapaksa had also filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order directing the Kaduwela Magistrate to release him from remand custody. This petition is to be considered in Supreme Court on June 4 and 5.