Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has been conditionally released by the Colombo High Court after corruption charges were withdrawn, but only after agreeing to pay a massive Rs. 1.84 billion as compensation to the state.
The Colombo High Court today (10) ordered the conditional release of former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who was accused of causing losses to the government by investing over Rs. 1.84 billion in Greek government bonds in 2012, at a time when Greece was facing a severe economic crisis. The release followed the decision of the Bribery Commission to withdraw the charges against him under Section 67(3) of the Anti Corruption Act.
The Bribery Commission informed court that in accordance with Section 67(3), Mr. Cabraal must deposit the amount of Rs. 1,843,267,595.65 into the account of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka within three months from the date of withdrawal of the indictment. The Commission further stated that if he fails to settle the amount within the stipulated period, action will be initiated against him under Section 67(5) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
When the case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal, the Bribery Commission formally notified court of its decision to withdraw the charge sheets filed against the accused. At that point, the Commission stated that it was prepared to withdraw the charges against former Governor Cabraal on the condition that the alleged loss amount of Rs. 1.84 billion, cited in the charge sheet, would be recovered as a fine.
Based on this submission, the Bribery Commission requested the court to grant conditional release to Mr. Cabraal under the relevant provisions of the law. Accordingly, the presiding judge ordered the conditional release of Ajith Nivard Cabraal under Section 67(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
At the same time, the court ordered the unconditional release of former Deputy Governor Dharmasena Dheerasinghe, Assistant Governors Don Wasantha Ananda Silva and M.A. Karunaratne, who were also named as accused in the case. Their release was ordered under Section 194(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
It was further revealed that the Bribery Commission had previously filed indictments against Mr. Cabraal and the other accused in connection with this same allegation. However, the Colombo High Court had earlier accepted preliminary objections raised by the defence, ruled that those indictments could not be maintained, and ordered the accused to be released. Following that ruling, the Bribery Commission re filed the case again last year, leading to today’s conditional release order.
