The fundamental rights petition filed by Venerable Thiniyawala Palitha Thero against former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in 2021 was heard before Chief Justice Padman Surasena today, and the Supreme Court dismissed the petition’s refusal to allow it to continue.
Venerable Thiniyawala Palitha Thero filed this petition alleging that the Central Bank, on the orders of the government, made a payment of US$ 6.5 million to a company owned by an American national named Imad Subheri in 2014 to promote Sri Lanka in the United States. Furthermore, Palitha Thero alleged that the then Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who made the payment, was responsible for the payment and that his fundamental rights were violated through the payment.
When the case was heard in the Supreme Court today, Attorney Suren Gnanaraaj, who appeared for Ajith Nivard Cabraal, stated that cases on this matter had already been heard in two Magistrate’s Courts and it had already been proven in those cases that Mr. Cabraal was not guilty. Furthermore, the decision of the appeal filed in the High Court against the decisions in those cases has further confirmed the decision of the Magistrate.