AG & Ranil's Legal Team Meet For 10 Minutes | Discuss UK Visit Probe

COLOMBO (News 1st); The arrest of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe several months ago sparked one of the biggest national conversations in recent history.

He was taken into custody over allegations of spending Rs. 16.6 million in public funds on a private overseas trip to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony.

A week later, Wickremesinghe was released on bail after his legal team presented medical concerns to the court, which were taken into consideration.

The case is currently being heard before the Magistrate’s Court.

Now, a new development has surfaced.

A high-level discussion has taken place between Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe and Wickremesinghe’s legal team regarding the ongoing investigation.

What was this meeting about? And what transpired during the discussion?

President’s Counsel Anuja Premaratne, along with President’s Counsel Ronald Perera and Attorney-at-Law Eraj de Silva, representing former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, attended a meeting with Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe last Friday at the Attorney General’s official office.

Both Parinda Ranasinghe and Anuja Premaratne confirmed to News First that such a discussion took place.

The Attorney General had also summoned Additional Solicitor General Dileep Peiris and Deputy Solicitor General Vasantha Perera for the meeting.

Speaking to News First, Attorney General Ranasinghe revealed that officials from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had traveled to the United Kingdom to pursue inquiries related to Wickremesinghe’s case—without prior notification to him.

Wickremesinghe’s legal team raised this matter during the discussion.

In response, Additional Solicitor General Peiris clarified that since this was part of an ongoing investigation, there was no requirement to inform the Attorney General beforehand.

He further reminded that during the previous court session, Wickremesinghe’s counsel had questioned why no investigation was being conducted in the UK. Against that backdrop, Peiris asked what objection there could be now to CID officials conducting inquiries overseas.

Wickremesinghe’s lawyers had left the premises, after noting that all future steps would proceed according to the investigation process.

The Attorney General stated that the discussion lasted approximately 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, three CID officers departed for the UK on November 12 to carry out investigations linked to the allegations.

The case accuses Wickremesinghe of spending over Rs. 16.6 million in public funds on a private overseas trip to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony.

The matter is scheduled to be called again on January 28.