Namal's and Diana's cases are postponed due to the lawyers' strike

Due to the decision taken by lawyers today to withdraw from their professional duties, the Colombo courts today (16) decided to postpone two prominent court cases that have been widely discussed in Sri Lanka's political sphere to other dates. Accordingly, the court hearings filed against Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa and former State Minister Diana Gamage have been thus postponed.

The Colombo High Court ordered the postponement until February 19 of the case filed against Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa for allegedly obtaining Rs. 70 million from the Indian 'Krrish' company, claiming it was for the promotion of rugby in Sri Lanka, and then misappropriating it. When the case was called today, the defendant MP appeared before the court, but due to the lawyers' strike, the judge decided to postpone the proceedings for a short period.

This case, filed by the Attorney General under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, is based on a financial transaction allegedly carried out in conjunction with the project to lease 4.3 acres of land in the Fort area of Colombo to the Krrish company in 2012. Investigations conducted by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) during the good governance government in 2015 revealed that the funds in question had been used for personal purposes instead of for rugby. Indictments were filed before the High Court in early 2025 against Mr. Namal Rajapaksa, who was remanded in 2016 in connection with this matter and later released on bail, and he continuously claims that he has been subjected to political victimization.

Meanwhile, Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama today ordered the further hearing of evidence pertaining to one of the charges in the case filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against former State Minister Diana Gamage regarding the violation of immigration and emigration laws to be postponed until February 24. When the case was called, the defendant and four witnesses related to the incident appeared in court, and since the case was postponed due to the lawyers' strike, the Magistrate advised those witnesses to appear before the court on the next date as well.

The case has been filed against the former minister under seven charges, the main one being the submission of false information to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration through the relevant application to obtain a passport in January 2014. Additionally, she has been accused of violating the Immigration and Emigration Act by staying in Sri Lanka without a valid visa at various times between 2016 and 2020.

The trial was scheduled to commence after she declared herself innocent of the relevant charges during the previous court session. There, the Magistrate ordered her release on a cash bail of Rs. 500,000 and two personal bails of Rs. 10 million each. Furthermore, her diplomatic passport, which was presented as a court exhibit, was ordered to be placed in the court safe, and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the court that the Supreme Court had previously ruled her ineligible to hold a seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament due to her British citizenship.