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Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed Colombo Magistrate’s Court on 3 April that it has launched an investigation into allegations that Namal Rajapaksa MP, the son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, fraudulently obtained his Attorney-at-Law qualification.
The investigation was initiated after a complaint from Citizens’ Power Against Bribery and Corruption alleged that Namal Rajapaksa received preferential treatment during an examination at Sri Lanka Law College in 2010. It is alleged that Rajapaksa, who graduated with a third-class Law degree from City University London in 2009, was assisted by two lawyers in a private room during the examination. The CID’s Special Investigation Unit investigators are scrutinising official records to verify the claims.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Tanuja Lakmali directed the CID to present a progress report to the court.
Similar allegations were raised in 2010 by Thushara Jayarathna, a student at Sri Lanka Law College. Jayarathna complained to Sri Lanka Law College, Sri Lankan police, and the Supreme Court, that Rajapaksa had been provided a separate room. A fundamental rights case filed by Jayarathna in 2011 was dismissed by the Supreme Court on technical grounds.
This investigation is the latest in a series of inquiries involving Rajapaksa.
On 28 January 2025, Sri Lanka’s Attorney General filed indictments against him over allegations that he misappropriated funds invested by the Kirsh Company for the development of rugby in Sri Lanka. Additionally, on February 26, 2025, the CID summoned Namal Rajapaksa to record statements relating to an investigation into corruption surrounding a 2013 Sri Lankan Airlines deal with Airbus.
