MONETABRIEF – Sri Lanka's main magistrate's court in Colombo put off hearing a bail application by former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa after her attorney claimed she was undergoing "open-heart surgery" as they spoke.

Anil Silva said his client had fallen ill overnight and had been admitted to the state-owned National Hospital (NHSL) on Monday night, where she was on an operating table undergoing major surgery.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama suspended the hearing briefly on Tuesday and called for a report from the NHSL after the state attorney said they were unaware of Rajapaksa having any serious heart condition and cast doubt on Silva’s claim.

While the court suspended the hearing until early afternoon, Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters at the weekly Cabinet press briefing that Rajapaksa had undergone only an angiogram, a procedure that helps detect blockages in the arteries.

He said medical authorities would await the results of the angiogram before deciding whether any further action was necessary. Rajapaksa’s lawyer, Silva, had requested bail, citing the "open-heart surgery" as an "exceptional circumstance", and claimed that in 2019 she had been diagnosed with three blocked arteries.

"We request that bail be granted by treating this as an exceptional circumstance," Silva said in open court.

"In 2019, it was stated that three of her blood vessels were blocked. This is not a lie."

The magistrate cautioned Silva to lower his tone. "Your voice is too loud. I can’t take notes," the magistrate said.

In almost a whisper, Silva told the magistrate that he was “correcting” his earlier claim of “open-heart” surgery.

"I am now receiving instructions that it is not being performed at present, but is scheduled to be performed," Silva told the magistrate.

Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peeris said Rajapaksa had worn a patch over her right eye only when she was being arrested.

When she returned from Singapore after nearly three weeks, she was not covering either eye. She had said she underwent medical treatment in Singapore.

Peeris argued that Rajapaksa could receive medical treatment while in custody and that this did not mean she should be returned to prison. She could be treated at the NHSL while remaining in custody.

He also noted that a person in state custody is entitled to free medical care which, in Rajapaksa’s case, would cost about five million rupees.

Rajapaksa was arrested on October 7 on a charge of corruption.

She is accused of obtaining 10 million rupees from the National Savings Bank (NSB) as a donation for a charity run by her to finance a CT scanner for a cancer unit at Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in 2010.

Her charity was initially called Shiranthi Navodaya in 2006, but was later renamed Siriliya Saviya.

The organisation was not formally recognised as a charity, but she used letterheads bearing the state emblem to solicit donations as first lady although she had no formal position in the government, the court was told.

Although she raised money for medical equipment for the cancer unit, an MRI scanner had been donated by the Chinese government.

It had been gifted to the hospital in June 2011 on her second son Yoshitha’s birthday to make it appear to be a donation from her.

The magistrate reserved his order on bail and asked that Rajapaksa be held in custody until Friday, when a decision on the bail application will be delivered. (Colombo/Oct 13/2026)