Lawyers representing former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, and former Finance Ministry Secretary S. R Attygalle have informed the Supreme Court that they will not leave the country until tomorrow.

The motion filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and three others, calls to restrict the overseas travel of 6 respondents including former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as interim measures during the pendency of the case. 

The petition by TISL, Chandra Jayaratne, Jehan CanagaRetna, and Julian Bolling claims that the respondents named in the petition are directly responsible for the unsustainability of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, its hard default on foreign loan repayments, and the current state of the economy of Sri Lanka. 

Giving an update on the court proceedings today, TISL said that the Counsel representing Ajith Nivard Cabraal informed the court that he has two previous court orders restricting his overseas travel. 

They added that Cabraal has no intention of embarking on overseas travel without the permission of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. 

TISL further said that the Counsel for the petitioners informed the court that Basil Rajapaksa attempted to leave the country on Monday night after this motion was filed.

The Counsel for the Petitioners requested the court to impose travel restrictions, stating that if the Respondents were to leave, even if the Petitioners were successful in the case, they would be left with “an empty piece of paper”, with no Respondents to enforce the Court’s orders.

In view of the curfew, the Counsel for Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basila Rajapaksa, and Attygalle informed the court that all three Respondents will not leave the country until midday tomorrow (15).

Transparency International Sri Lanka said that the petition will be taken up for hearing again tomorrow. (NewsWire)