The case filed over the alleged misappropriation of public funds against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the former Secretary to the President, Saman Ekanayake has been adjourned till September 30. 

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court today (08) ordered that the Attorney General’s stance on the legal action to be taken against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake be presented to court during the next hearing.

The case was taken up today before Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena.

During the proceedings, Senior State Counsel Samadari Piyasena informed court that investigations into the incident had been concluded and that the relevant files had been forwarded to the Attorney General.

The Senior State Counsel further requested that a date be granted to communicate the Attorney General’s position on the matter.

Accordingly, the Magistrate ordered that the complaint be recalled on September 30 and directed that the Attorney General’s stance be notified to the court on that date.

The case was filed on allegations that the former President misused government funds to travel to the United Kingdom in 2023 to attend a ceremony honouring his wife, Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, at a British university, while serving as Head of State.

The former President was arrested on August 22, 2025, after appearing before the Criminal Investigation Department to provide a statement, and was subsequently remanded until August 26, 2025, after being produced in court.

Following consideration of medical reports, Colombo Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura later ordered his release on three surety bails of Rs. 5 million each. The case was then fixed for October 29, 2025.

According to the case, the Criminal Investigation Department arrested the former President on August 22, 2025 over allegations that he misused Rs. 16.6 million in public funds during a one-and-a-half-day visit to the United Kingdom, which was presented as an official trip.

However, the lawyers representing former President Wickremesinghe had submitted that the visit was made following an invitation from a British university, and that there is no clear separation between official and private visits made by a sitting President. Therefore, they argued, no misappropriation of state funds had occurred