Impeachment of Chief Justice :

Resolution in first week of Jan -Keheliya

CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE

The resolution on the impeachment of Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayaka will be tabled within the first week of January when Parliament meets, Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday.

“What has been practiced previously in the impeachment of any Chief Justice in the country will be followed in the case of incumbent Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayaka as well,” Minister Rambukwella said. The minister said this on being asked whether Parliament is set to take up the impeachment resolution on Dr Bandaranayaka when it meets on January 8 for the first time in 2013.

The impeachment process will be held consistent with Parliamentary traditions, he said. The Legislature has the sole power to impeach. The Judiciary has no authority to review its process, the minister said.

Dr Bandaranayaka has been found guilty in impeachment charges, of professional misconduct and financial irregularities by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that probed the impeachment motion. The Committee after probing five out of 14 articles of charges leveled against her, found her guilty of three counts and found her innocent in two.

The Chief Justice walked out from the PSC proceedings amid other charges leveled against her.

The impeachment charges were signed by 117 legislators. She walked out of the impeachment process refusing to appear before the members of the PSC without proving her innocence. Rambukwella said: “The resolution on the impeachment of the Chief Justice will be debated in Parliament with due respect for the Constitution and Parliamentary Standing Orders.” The dates for the debate on the impeachment will be arranged in consultation with party leaders.“The order paper has not been announced yet,” he said.

Asked if there was a division in the government about the Chief Justice’s impeachment that several Leftist coalition partners had submitted a proposal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently requesting him to prorogue Parliament over the situation, Rambukwella said there was no such division in the government over the impeachment process.

Everyone is concerned about preserving Parliament traditions, he pointed out. The impeachment resolution calls for a vote. It requires a simple majority to pass to allow President Mahinda Rajapaksa to remove the Chief Justice from her position.