Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama on Friday rejected a bail application filed on behalf of MP Namal Rajapaksa and ordered him further remanded until November 6 in the Krrish transaction case.
Former Krrish director Janaki Siriwardena was remanded to the same date. Both were produced in court from remand custody, Hiru News reported.
Rajapaksa is named as the fourth suspect in the case. NewsFirst reported that the court considered the bail application during proceedings before rejecting it and directing that the parliamentarian be further remanded. The Daily Mirror carried the order at 11.01 a.m.
The allegation
The case centres on an allegation that Rs. 70 million was paid to Rajapaksa by the Krrish company, where Siriwardena served as a director. NewsFirst reports the payment is alleged to have been made in return for assistance over the allocation of land in Colombo Fort and the approvals attached to it.
Where this sits in the sequence
This is the latest in a run of extensions rather than a fresh order. Rajapaksa has been held on remand through October, with earlier appearances producing remand dates of October 6, October 16 and October 23 before Friday’s order carried him to November 6.
The Krrish matter runs alongside a separate thread this desk has been tracking: the Bribery Commission’s October raid on premises linked to the MP and the subsequent arrest of his secretary over money found in a safe.
Not reported
None of the three filings gives the basis on which bail was sought, or the prosecution’s stated grounds for opposing it. The reasons the Chief Magistrate gave for refusing the application were not reported.
