The Court of Appeal (CA) will take up on Tuesday, October 20, the writ application filed by All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Parliamentarian and former Minister Rishad Bathuideen, seeking to prevent his arrest in connection with the alleged misappropriation of public funds and violation of election rules.
Parliamentarian Bathuideen filing the petition through his attorneys stated that he had obtained the services of 222 Sri Lanka Transport Board buses with Finance Ministry approval to transport internally displaced people from Puttalam to polling stations during the 2019 Presidential elections.
He sought an interim order preventing his arrest on the basis that he had not misappropriated any public funds or committed any offences under the election laws.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the Colombo Fort Magistrate issued a travel ban on the ex-minister and another.
The CID also made an application to the Court seeking an arrest warrant on him and two others.
The court refusing the application noted that the CID could arrest them without warrants since they are alleged to have committed offences relating to the misappropriation of public funds.
The police later on Tuesday arrested three people including an accountant and two security personnel along with two vehicles in this connection.
The Attorney General had earlier instructed the Acting IGP to arrest Rishad Bathiudeen and two others in connection with the offences.
Meanwhile, ex-minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s brother Riyaj Bathiudeen on Tuesday, October 13 filed a petition in the Court of Appeal seeking an interim order against a possible re-arrest in connection with his alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks.
Riyaj Bathiudeen stated that he was arrested by CID on April 14, 2020 and was released on September 29 as there was no evidence against him.
The writ petition was filed following a call by 100 government parliamentarians for his re-arrest.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that 100 government MPs signed a petition seeking Riyaj’s re-arrest.
The MPs alleged that the CID had improperly released Riyaj Bathuideen, without producing before any court or taking any legal sanction.
They had called on the President and the Prime Minister to order a full investigation into the allegations.