Wife's UK graduation trip case adjourned - Ranil attends court and leaves

The Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court ordered that the case filed by the Criminal Investigation Department against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake be recalled on November 11 for the Attorney General's instructions. When the case was called before the court, the suspects Ranil Wickremesinghe and Saman Ekanayake appeared in open court.

This lawsuit has been filed on the charge that during Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe's tenure as President of this country in 2023, he misused over 1.5 crore rupees, specifically more than 16.6 million rupees of government funds, causing a loss, during a private visit to London, Britain, for his wife Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe's graduation ceremony. Both suspects named in connection with this incident, including the former President, are currently out on bail.

Government Counsel Ms. Samadhari Piyasena, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, had previously informed Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasekara that all investigative activities related to this incident have been completed in accordance with Section 123 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Considering the request made by the Government Counsel to grant a date for obtaining instructions from the Attorney General, as the investigation extracts have been submitted to him, the Magistrate had previously set September 30 as the date for calling the case.

During that court session, President's Counsel Anuja Premaratne, appearing for the first suspect Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, informed the court that more than half of the alleged expenditure was incurred for transport and vehicle facilities. The President's Counsel pointed out that the British government had borne the vehicle expenses related to his client and stated before the court that steps would be taken to provide the relevant documents confirming this to the complainant party.