Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Bribery Commission’s prosecution of him over the Greek bond purchases, and the court has ordered it called again on 9 October.
The appeal was taken up on Friday and put off to next month for support — the stage at which a court decides whether to grant leave to proceed rather than rule on the merits, Hiru News reported.
What the underlying case alleges
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has a case before the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar against a group of accused including Cabraal. It alleges they caused a loss to the state by investing public funds in Greek government bonds while knowing Greece was undergoing an economic collapse.
CIABOC puts that loss at more than Rs. 1.84 billion. Cabraal was Central Bank Governor from July 2006 to January 2015; the disputed purchases were made during Greece’s sovereign debt crisis.
This is the second attempt to halt the prosecution
The appeal is a further move in a case that has already survived one challenge. In December 2025 the Colombo High Court conditionally released Cabraal on the requirement that he credit the Rs. 1.84 billion back to the Central Bank within three months. Three co-accused — former Deputy Governor Dharmasena Dheerasinghe and Assistant Governors Don Wasantha Ananda Silva and M. A. Karunaratne — were released unconditionally.
The deadline lapsed on 10 March 2026 without payment. CIABOC then asked the Chief Justice to appoint a permanent bench, and Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena appointed a three-member Trial-at-Bar on 3 May — Justices Manoj Thalgodapitiya, Udesh Ranatunga and Buddhika Sri Ragala. Fresh indictments followed over the breach of the release condition.
A separate bid by Cabraal to stop the Greek bonds case failed in July, and the Trial-at-Bar rejected his preliminary objections.
Why the forum matters
The appeal moves the fight up from the High Court to the Supreme Court. A Trial-at-Bar is a permanent three-judge High Court bench used for cases of particular gravity, and it hears the evidence; the Supreme Court is being asked to intervene in the prosecution itself rather than to weigh the facts.
Nothing in Friday’s order suggests the Trial-at-Bar proceedings have been stayed. Hiru News does not report whether Cabraal sought a stay, whether one was granted, or what grounds the appeal advances.
Not reported
Hiru News does not name the Supreme Court bench, identify the other accused in the Trial-at-Bar case, state what relief Cabraal is seeking, or say whether CIABOC has filed objections. It does not report whether the Rs. 1.84 billion has since been paid. No other verified newsroom had filed the hearing at the time of writing — it was absent from both the Daily Mirror and NewsFirst listings, and a domain-restricted search of Ada Derana, EconomyNext, Daily FT, Island and Colombo Gazette returned only pre-existing coverage of earlier stages of the case.
