Attorney General, today (19), told the court that issuance of arrest warrants by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and several other bond scam suspects has followed a lawful procedure.

The writ applications filed by Ravi Karunanayake, PTL owner Arjuna Aloysius, Central Bank employees Sangarapillai Pathumanapan and Indika Saman Kumara, seeking a court order to revoke the arrest warrants issued against them, were taken up for consideration today (19).

A three-judge bench consisting of Appeals Court President Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Shiran Gunaratne and Sobhitha Karunaratne sat for the petition hearing.

The writ applications have been fixed for support on June 26.

The petitioners had alleged that the Colombo Fort Magistrate issuing arrest warrants on them based on the B report submitted to the bench by the police is against the law and had sought the Appeals Court for a revocation of warrants.

On 06 March, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court issued warrants for the arrest of Karunanayake and 9 others over the Central Bank bond auctions of March 2016.

The Attorney General subsequently directed the Acting IGP to obtain arrest warrants against several suspects in the Central Bank bond scam case including the former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, former Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran, Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) owner Arjun Aloysius, CEO Kasun Palisena, former Director of the Public Debt Department of the Central Bank T.H.B. Sarathchandra and several others on charges of conspiracy, criminal misappropriation, cheating, and market manipulation in respect of the bond auctions of March 2016.

The Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake accordingly issued arrest warrants on ten suspects in the case, except on the tenth suspect, Buddhika Sarathchandra.