By Adolf
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe now languishes in jail because the prosecuting lawyers appear not to fully understand the true role of a Head of State. The visit in question was not a private jaunt but one undertaken at the invitation of the late Lord Swraj Paul, Baron Paul of Marylebone (1931–2025)—the Indian-born British industrialist, philanthropist, and parliamentarian who founded the Caparo Group and built it into a global enterprise. Lord Paul, who had a longstanding relationship with the Wickremesinghe family, invited him for his felicitation and convocation, while also pursuing his keen interest in establishing a university in Sri Lanka.
Elevated to the House of Lords in 1996, Lord Paul served as Deputy Speaker and was appointed to the Privy Council in 2009. A renowned philanthropist, he founded the Ambika Paul Foundation in memory of his daughter and served as Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Westminster. Knighted in 1978 and awarded India’s Padma Bhushan in 1983, he was a leading advocate of Indo-UK relations and a prominent figure on the Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated fortune of £2 billion at his passing in London on 21 August 2025. Lord Paul was also a benefactor to Sri Lanka, extending support during the tsunami, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the recent economic crisis.
Against this backdrop, it is regrettable that the Attorney General’s Department has failed to properly examine the context, unfairly placing responsibility on the Former President.
