Sumathipala case delayed

The passport fraud case involving Thilanga Sumathipala, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket, was further delayed today after Sumathipala's lawyers claimed their client was about to undergo kidney surgery. Sumathipala, first summoned to appear before a Colombo magistrate's court on January 8, will now be examined again by a judicial medical officer (JMO) and top urologist to determine whether he is fit enough to attend court. They will report back to the court on January 19.

Meanwhile, T.B. Boyagoda, Colombo's Chief Magistrate, surprised the court with the announcement that he would be pulling out of the complex and high-profile case. The magistrate cited personal reasons and announced that additional magistrate Namal Balalle would take up the case on Monday (January 19).

Last Monday, the JMO had handed over a three-page report which had claimed Sumathipala was sufficiently fit enough to attend court. "The pain Mr. Sumathipala had mentioned was not typical of stones in the kidney and it was too small, not needing urgent surgery," the report said. Boyagoda had said that he would decide whether to issue a warrant for Sumathipala's arrest on Tuesday.

But Sumathipala's legal team furiously disputed the diagnosis. They claimed that a leading specialist, called Rizvi Sherif, had recommended immediate surgery. Sumathipala was allegedly moved to an operating theatre. The prosecution accused the defence of misleading court, but the magistrate ruled that further analysis was necessary.

Sumathipala is accused of an involvement with an underworld character called Dammika Amarasinghe, who allegedly travelled to the 1999 World Cup on a forged passport as a guest of the cricket board, which at the time was headed by Sumathipala.

Amarasinghe, held in custody and facing prosecution for a string of contract killings, was killed by an assassin in a Colombo courthouse on Friday morning. The gunman, a former army deserter who was dressed in lawyer's robes, claimed that it was personal attack of revenge, but police have hinted that it was a contract killing, possibly by a mafia gang based in the south.