Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has clarified that the Malwana mansion, which was earlier allegedly linked to former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, is now owned by the State, it was reported.
According to Daily Mirror, the Justice Minister revealed that the mansion had been torched during the ‘Aragalaya’ protests in 2022, being unaware that it was owned by the State.
The Justice Minister informed the Parliament recently that Cabinet approval has been granted for the mansion to be taken over by the Ministry of Justice and the necessary actions are being taken in this regard.
“When I learnt through the newspapers that no party has claimed ownership of the Malwana property, I submitted a Cabinet Paper the following day to take it over to the Justice Ministry. It was approved by the Cabinet. The process is moving forward slowly. It will be taken over by the Justice Ministry. Unfortunately, the Aragalaya activists set it on fire, maybe while being unaware that it is a State property now,” he said.
Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe made the remarks while responding to a statement by NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the controversial Malwana mansion. (NewsWire)
