MONETABRIEF – Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka's former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, was denied bail by the Colombo chief magistrate despite pleading that he needed to attend important Buddhist rituals and travel to India.

The 40-year-old opposition MP's lawyer, Shavindra Fernando, told the court that Namal had been invited to take part in a pinnacle-capping ceremony at the Pothgul Vihara temple on September 26.

"If my client fails to attend this event, it should be regarded as a disrespect shown to the chief incumbent of the temple," Fernando said.

Fernando added that Namal had also received an invitation to visit India from September 27 to October 1 and therefore sought bail.

However, he was remanded until September 29 in connection with allegations that he received kickbacks of $800,000 from the $2.3 billion Airbus aircraft purchase deal his father – Mahinda Rajapaksa – approved as president in 2013.

Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara invoked the Buddha's teachings in response to Namal's lawyer, Fernando, saying that a judicial matter was far more important than attending a religious ceremony.

"According to what is being said here, the accused himself should have considered this while conducting dealings with Nimal Perera," Bandara said, referring to the businessman who allegedly routed the bribe money to Namal.

Bandara quoted at length from a recent Supreme Court decision that expanded on the Buddha's teachings, noting that when a ruler is righteous, the people follow; but when the ruler is dishonest, the citizenry follows that example too.

The 40-year-old MP was arrested on September 4 under the new anti-graft legislation parliament adopted unanimously in 2023.

Namal is primarily accused of accepting $800,000 out of a 1.4 euro million bribe that the then SriLankan Airlines chief executive, Kapila Chandrasena, is alleged to have received from Airbus after finalising a $2.3 billion purchase of aircraft in 2013.

Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama told the previous court hearing that he did not have the power to grant Namal bail because the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had issued a certificate under section 149 of the Act.

The provision stipulates that a magistrate may not grant bail when the CIABOC DG presents a certificate confirming that an offence under the Act has been committed.

The magistrate noted that he could grant bail only in "exceptional circumstances", but there was no acceptable argument from the defence for him to do so.

A Buddhist temple festival and an invitation from India could not be considered good enough reasons to grant bail.

The businessman who acted as a conduit for the bribe – Nimal Perera – had turned state witness, providing details of how the money was given to Namal through two bank transfers in 2014 and 2015, the court was told.

Under the provisions of the August 2023 Act, Namal Rajapaksa could be held in custody until the conclusion of the trial, even though the magistrate remanded him until September 18, the maximum he could be incarcerated at a time. (COLOMBO/Sept18/2026)