Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Basil Rajapakse has been granted permission to travel abroad. The Supreme Court has allowed Basil Rajapakse to travel abroad till January 15. On Friday, the country’s media Daily Mirror reported this information.
Basil Rajapaksa’s lawyer applied to the court for permission to go abroad for treatment. Subsequently, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Jayant Jayasuriya allowed Basil to travel abroad till January 15 next year.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued an order banning former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country till September 5.
Sri Lankan swimmer and coach Julian Bowling, former chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne, made the Supreme Court order in view of a fundamental rights petition filed by Transparency International. The petitioners sought an order to take legal action against those responsible for financial irregularities and mismanagement in the Sri Lankan economy.
Sri Lanka is going through an unprecedented economic crisis. In the context of this crisis, thousands of people of the country took to the streets last March. They have been continuously protesting against the government. Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse, who fled the country last July in the face of mass protests, has returned home.
Gotabaya, who is staying in Thailand on a short-term visa, returned to Sri Lanka after 12 midnight on Friday through Singapore. Ministers and politicians of the country welcomed him at the airport.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya’s elder brother Mahinda. He was the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka till last May. He resigned in the face of mass protests. Gotabaya’s younger brother Basil. He was the finance minister of the country.
Mahinda resigned on May 9. Later son Namal told Rajapaksa that his father would not run away from the country.