Sugeeshwara Bandara, former private secretary to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been further remanded until November 11.
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court extended his custody on Wednesday in proceedings concerning allegations that he received two salaries under the presidential expenditure head.
A remand order is not a conviction. The allegation must be proved through the judicial process, and Bandara remains entitled to the presumption of innocence.
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But the public is entitled to answers about the public purse.
What appointments did he hold? What salary attached to each? Who approved the payments? Which officials checked whether the arrangements complied with the rules?
Government money does not ordinarily leave the Treasury through the actions of a single recipient. There are appointment letters, payroll instructions, authorisations and officials charged with checking them.
That paper trail matters.
Be that as it may, neither proximity to a former President nor the political appeal of a prosecution establishes criminal responsibility. Documents and admissible evidence must do that work.
The same standard requires investigators to examine the authorisation chain, wherever it leads.
Successive remand dates tell the public where a suspect will remain. They do not, by themselves, explain what has been established or how proceedings are advancing.
The next date is November 11. The larger question is whether the case will deliver a timely, evidence-based account of how these payments were made.
