Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court has once again denied bail for former Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, former Ministry secretary, and four others accused in the case involving the import of substandard human Immunoglobulin vials.
The magistrate, under the provisions of the Public Property Act, ordered their remand until the conclusion of the case and scheduled a recall of the case for March 28, 2024.
Currently, eight individuals, including former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, former Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Chandragupta, and Additional Secretary of the Health Ministry Dr. Saman Ratnayake, remain under remand custody following their arrest in connection with the case.
The arrest of Rambukwella by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on February 2nd was preceded by intense pressure from civil society activists and health sector trade unionists, urging prompt action against the lawmaker.
On February 29th, Rambukwella’s attorneys filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition contesting his CID arrest and seeking Rs. 100 million in compensation.
Prior arrests in connection with the drug procurement scam saw seven individuals detained, with the fifth accused later released on bail. Consequently, the former Health Secretary, the Director of the Health Ministry’s Medical Supplies Division (MSD), three other MSD officials, and the owner of the supplying company, alleged to have provided the substandard immunoglobulin vials, remain in remand.
Furthermore, Dr. Thusitha Sudarshana, the Deputy Director of the Health Ministry’s Medical Supplies Division, surrendered to the CID upon summons upon his return to Sri Lanka from overseas, leading to his arrest on March 13th.
Additionally, Additional Secretary of the Health Ministry Dr. Ratnayake recently provided a 4-hour-long confidential statement to the Maligakanda Magistrate concerning the procurement of the substandard human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).
In October 2023, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) uncovered forged documents submitted for Customs clearance to procure a batch of vials containing human immunoglobulin, subsequently failing quality tests.
