March 03, Colombo (LNW): Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Dr. Saman Rathnayake, who was arrested and remanded in connection with the medicine procurement scandal, expressed his willingness to provide a confidential statement during a court hearing yesterday (02).
The case pertaining to the procurement, supply, and distribution of the controversial medicine was addressed in court yesterday.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Rathnayake yesterday when he presented himself to the CID for questioning.
Following over seven hours of interrogation, the Additional Secretary was taken into custody. Earlier yesterday, the court issued an order remanding Rathnayake until March 14, based on the submissions made by Deputy Solicitor General Lakmini Girihagama at the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court.
However, Rathnayake, through his legal representative, informed the court of his intention to provide a confidential statement before the Magistrate. The Magistrate granted permission for this request and scheduled Rathnayake to appear in court on March 4 to deliver the confidential statement. Consequently, he will remain remanded until March 4.
During today’s court session, Deputy Solicitor General Girihagama informed the court that Dr. Saman Ratnayake, the 10th suspect in the case, was arrested for misappropriating government funds.
Investigations revealed that Rathnayake, who possessed a thorough understanding of the emergency procurement process under the Indian Credit Line, misused government funds to procure the controversial medicines.
It was revealed that Rathnayake, along with ex Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, orchestrated a fabricated medicine shortage using counterfeit cabinet papers to exploit the emergency procurement process.
This fraudulent act was carried out with dishonest intentions.
A paper submitted to the Cabinet on September 26, 2022, warned of a critical shortage of 182 medicines in the country. However, upon verification, no record of these 182 medicines was found.
The following day, Rathnayake instructed former Secretary of the Ministry of Health Janaka Sri Chandragupta to initiate an emergency procurement process for 285 medicines based on the fabricated emergency situation.
Deputy Solicitor General Girihagama emphasised that Rathnayake’s actions led to the misappropriation of Rs. 2 billion of government funds.
