Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar Fixes Central Bank Bond Case for January 28

COLOMBO (News1st): The Colombo High Court Permanent Trial-at-Bar today ordered that the case filed against several defendants, including former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, over the Central Bank bond scam be called on January 28, 2027.

The controversial case is being taken up for a pre-trial conference, approximately seven years after it was filed.

The Attorney General has filed indictments under the Public Property Act against several defendants, including former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, over a loss of Rs. 688 million caused to the government in connection with a Central Bank bond auction held on February 27, 2015.

The case was called today before the Permanent Trial-at-Bar, presided over by Justice Priyantha Liyanage.

The defendants, including Perpetual Treasuries directors Arjun Aloysius, Geoffrey Aloysius and Kasun Palisena, appeared before court.

The court decided to proceed with the trial in the absence of two defendants, namely former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Ajan Gardiye Punchihewa.

During the proceedings, lawyers appearing for some of the defendants informed the court that they had not yet received certain documents pertaining to the case.

Having considered the submissions, the bench ordered Senior State Counsel Oswald Perera, appearing for the Attorney General, to take steps to provide the necessary documents to the defence before the next court date.

Thereafter, the court ordered that the case be called for a pre-trial conference on January 28, 2027.

Former Central Bank Deputy Governor Paththinige Samarasiri, Perpetual Treasuries Limited directors Arjun Aloysius, Geoffrey Aloysius and Kasun Palisena, as well as Muthurajah Surendran, Chitta Ranjan Hulugalle and P. Gunawardena, have been named as defendants in the case.