Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena on Wednesday granted bail to SLPP parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa in the money laundering case arising from SriLankan Airlines’ Airbus aircraft procurement — the first bail order in his favour since he was taken into custody on September 4.
The magistrate set cash bail of Rs. 500,000 and two sureties of Rs. 100 million each, the Daily Mirror reported. The sureties must produce certificates issued by their respective Grama Niladharis.
A foreign travel ban was imposed, with the court registrar directed to notify the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration. The magistrate warned that bail would be cancelled if Rajapaksa attempted to influence or intimidate any witness. The case will be taken up again on October 14.
A separate file from the case he was refused bail in
The Criminal Investigation Department filed this case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and it was listed before the Fort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday — a different court from the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, where his bail application was refused a day earlier and his remand extended to October 13.
That distinction was put on the record. Hiru News reported that Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara answered three questions the court had directed investigators to address in writing. Asked whether the two matters could be consolidated and filed together, he said no final decision had been reached. Asked whether this case should be referred to the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, he said the two relate to separate investigations, making a transfer unnecessary — and that extracts in both had already gone to the Attorney General for an imminent decision.
On the third question, the DSG confirmed that a certificate under section 149 of the Bribery Act had been filed naming the fourth suspect in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court case.
What is not settled
No outlet reports whether Wednesday’s order results in Rajapaksa actually leaving custody. He was separately remanded to October 13 in the Airbus bribery case and to October 6 in the Bribery Commission’s Krrish case on September 29, and none of the accounts published so far address whether those orders keep him in remand despite this bail.
Rajapaksa was arrested on September 4 over an alleged Rs. 100 million bribe connected to the Airbus matter and had bail refused on September 23 and again on September 29. His counsel has maintained that none of the emails produced in court carry his client’s name.
Note on figures: Newswire reported the sureties as Rs. 30 million each. The Daily Mirror and Hiru News both give Rs. 100 million each, and Hiru’s own article slug carries that figure; this report follows the two outlets that agree.
