CJ’S WRIT APPLICATION TO DISCREDIT HOUSE - Experts
* Against the
constitution
* Trying to
rouse int’l interest
Chamikara WEEWRASINGHE and Jayantha De SILVA
Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake yesterday filed a writ
application in the Court of Appeal asking court to issue a writ of
certiorari to invalidate the three charges she (CJ) was found guilty of
recently by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). In addition the
petition prays for an interim injunction preventing the respondents
taking any future steps in this regard, until the final determination by
the Court. The petition is to be considered by the Court of Appeal
today.
The petition cites the Speaker the General Secretary and the eleven
members of the PSC as respondents. The petition alleges that seven
members of the PSC who probed the impeachment charges against the CJ had
submitted a report of the PSCs findings which is against the
Constitution. The petition further states that she has been subject to
injustice.
Meanwhile, Vice President of Bar Association of Sri Lanka and senior
lawyer Anoma Goonathilaka and some other legal experts yesterday stated
there is no provision in the constitution that enables Chief Justice
Shirani Bandaranayaka to make any application before a Court of Appeal
against a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that has conducted an
impeachment trial against her.
Anoma Goonathilaka said, there is no applicability or validity in the
application filed against the PSC by Chief Justice Dr Bandaranayaka.
“The impeachment process regards the Chief Justice was based on the
Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament,” she pointed out.
“I think Chief Justice Bandaranayaka has done this in an attempt to
drag the process with an intention to discredit the House,” she said.
There are no provisions in the Constitution to challenge the findings
of a Parliamentary Select Committee over a case of an impeachment trial
involving articles of charges pertaining to misbehavior and professional
misconduct of a Chief Justice, she explained. “This kind of an
application is null and void before Appeal Courts,” she added.
Goonathilaka said that it appears that Chief Justice Dr Shirani
Bandaranayaka is trying to lead her case against the Constitution.
“We have reasons to believe that she is trying to complicate a normal
constitutional process that impeached her on charges of misbehavior,
with her current actions,” she said. Other lawyers echoed Mrs
Goonetilleke’s sentiments. “She is trying to rouse international
interest with a view to wielding an undue advantage over her impeachment
trial,” she added. |