Prosecutor General's Office has said that former State Minister Akram Kamaludeen's passport has been seized under a new court order from the Criminal Court.

Akram's passport was first seized under a Criminal Court order for the purposes of an Anti Corruption Commission investigation into the issuance of flats and landplots under the previous government's Gedhoruveriya and Binveriya housing schemes.

Akram appealed to the High Court to overrule this order, but the High Court first decided that the case could not be accepted as it is a matter than can be reviewed through applying to a lower court.

Akram then submitted this decision of the High Court registrar for review by the Judges' Council, which decided that the registrar's decision had been wrongful. High Court then overturned the order, and ordered the release of Akram's passport.

The State did not appeal the High Court's ruling at the Supreme Court. However, despite the High Court's ruling in April, Akram's passport has now been seized for 30 days under a new Criminal Court order.

Akram sent a letter to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding this. In the letter, he said that while the PG Office has decided not to appeal the High Court ruling, the Criminal Court appears to have challenged the ruling by issuing another similar order. Hence, Akram appealed for the Criminal Court order to be revoked.

PG Office responded that the High Court had cancelled a specific order. They said that if Akram held reservations about the current order, he has the option to apply for a review of the order, or to appeal the order.

High Court also overturned the order to seize the passport of former Senior Executive Mohamed Arif.

Akram and Arif were leading figures in the committee created by the former administration to oversee the issuance of flats and land plots. Today, ACC has forwarded their names for prosecution.