Cabraal, who went to clash with the Greek bond case, will retreat.

Former Central Bank Governor Dr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal has withdrawn the special appeal petition filed challenging the case against him before the Permanent High Court at Bar in Colombo, related to the Greek bond incident, from the Supreme Court.

Lawyers appearing for Mr. Cabraal informed the court that the petition was being withdrawn as the three-judge High Court bench in Colombo was scheduled to issue an order regarding the relevant lawsuit. The Supreme Court had set today (09) for the consideration of this petition.

When this petition was previously called before a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Achala Wengappuli, Mahinda Samayawardena, and Arjuna Obeysekera, Additional Solicitor General, President's Counsel Shanil Kularatne, appearing for the Attorney General, informed the court that he had received the notice related to the petition only the day before. Therefore, he pointed out that sufficient time was needed to study the legal facts and present arguments. Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered the petition to be recalled on October 09.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had initially filed a case against Mr. Cabraal in the Colombo High Court, accusing him of causing losses to the government by investing approximately 1.84 billion Sri Lankan rupees belonging to the government in Greek sovereign bonds in 2012, when Greece was facing economic risk.

Subsequently, the Bribery Commission withdrew that indictment and re-filed the case before the Permanent High Court at Bar in Colombo under other provisions of the new Anti-Corruption Act. Although Mr. Cabraal raised preliminary objections, pointing out that filing cases under two judicial authorities based on the same matter was illegal, the three-judge High Court rejected those objections and decided to proceed with the trial.

He had filed this special appeal petition with the Supreme Court, requesting that the said decision be invalidated and that he be acquitted and released from the relevant charges. With the withdrawal of the petition, attention is now focused on the order to be announced by the three-judge High Court.