Cabraal, who dismissed the Greek bond case by promising to pay 100 million, has not paid it - case re-filed.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has once again filed a case against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal before the Colombo High Court. This case has been filed on the charge of causing a loss exceeding 1840 million Sri Lankan Rupees (184 crores) to the Sri Lankan government by knowingly purchasing Greek bonds in 2012, when Greece was facing a severe economic crisis.

This new lawsuit has been filed under Section 67 (5) of the Anti-Corruption Act due to the violation of a previously imposed court condition to deposit a sum of 100 million rupees within three months.

Previously, in connection with this transaction, a case had been filed against five other individuals in addition to Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal. The defendants were K.G.D. Dharmasena Dheerasinghe, Wasantha Ananda Silva, Dandusiri Jayasinghe, Panditha Siriwardhana, and H.A. Karunaratne. This lawsuit was filed after a comprehensive investigation conducted based on a complaint made by Member of Parliament Sujeewa Senasinghe to the Bribery Commission. Subsequently, the Bribery Commission withdrew the case under Section 67 (3) of the Anti-Corruption Act, as the defendants agreed to a condition of depositing 100 million rupees within three months.

Considering the legal background of this case, the defense lawyers raised preliminary objections challenging the legal validity of the indictment filed in the initial instance. High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige accepted these objections and took steps to acquit all defendants on May 31, 2024, without serving them with indictments. Not stopping there, the Bribery Commission proceeded to file a case against the defendants once again on the same charges on August 21, 2024.

Although the defense lawyers again raised a preliminary objection, stating that the second case filed could not be maintained, this time the High Court judge rejected the objection and decided to proceed with the trial. Under those circumstances, the Bribery Commission had taken steps to withdraw the case subject to the aforementioned condition of depositing 100 million rupees. However, due to the failure to fulfill the condition by depositing the relevant amount within the stipulated time as per that agreement, the Bribery Commission has once again taken legal action against only the former Central Bank Governor before the High Court.