Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama has issued a warrant for the arrest and production of former Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Financial Officer Piyal Nandana Dissanayake, who is accused of criminal misappropriation of US$187,000 belonging to Sri Lanka Cricket. The order was made in connection with a case filed by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division in 2018.
When the case was taken up in court, it was revealed that the suspect had appeared regularly during the initial stages of the proceedings but later obtained court permission to travel abroad. Since then, his legal representatives had continued to appear on his behalf for nearly two years under Section 192 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979, which allows court proceedings to continue in the absence of an accused under specific conditions.
President’s Counsel Kalinga Indatissa, appearing for the suspect, informed court that investigations had been completed following a complaint made by his client against the complainant party to the Criminal Investigation Department. He told court that these investigations had confirmed his client’s innocence and argued that the former finance chief should therefore be released from the case.
Counsel further submitted that the suspect had not absconded or evaded the judicial process and was currently overseas with the explicit permission of the court. On this basis, he requested that no adverse order be made against his client.
However, after considering the submissions, the Chief Magistrate observed that the Attorney General has been directed to provide advice on the matter and ruled that the suspect could not be permitted to remain absent from court indefinitely. The Magistrate emphasized that the presence of the accused was now necessary for the continuation of proceedings.
Accordingly, the court issued a warrant for the arrest of Piyal Nandana Dissanayake and ordered that the case be recalled on September 30 for further proceedings.
