The Supreme Court today overturned a 2021 ruling by a Colombo Trial-at-Bar that had prevented the continuation of charges under the Public Property Act against accused individuals in the Central Bank bond scam case.

Delivering the judgment with the concurrence of Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena and Justices A.L. Shiran Gooneratne, Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeysekere, Justice Mahinda Samayawardhena held that there is no legal barrier to proceeding with charges under the Public Property Act against Perpetual Treasuries Ltd and the other accused.The case relates to the March 31, 2016 Treasury bond auction. The Attorney General had indicted 10 accused, including Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, Arjun Aloysius and Geoffrey Aloysius.

In December 2021, the Trial-at-Bar upheld a preliminary objection raised by defence lawyers who argued that Perpetual Treasuries, being a company and not a natural person, could not be prosecuted under the Public Property Act. The court subsequently ruled that the related charges against the other accused could not proceed. The Attorney General challenged that decision, first before the Court of Appeal and later before the Supreme Court.In its ruling today, the Supreme Court held that charges under Section 5(1) of the Public Property Act, read together with Section 386 of the Penal Code, can be maintained against the accused. The Court further held that under the Interpretation Ordinance, a company can be interpreted as a “person” for the purpose of the law.The judgment noted that significant losses to public property can arise not only through the actions of natural persons but also through complex financial frauds carried out through corporate structures.

The Supreme Court also directed that the Trial-at-Bar proceed with the case as expeditiously as possible in terms of Section 450(5)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.The ruling effectively revives the Public Property Act charges that had been dismissed in 2021 and clears the way for the long-delayed bond scam trial to continue.