A contempt of court action by the Chief Justice

Thursday, 26 July 2012

The Chief Justice is currently stating that the attack on the Mannar courthouse by fishermen in the area under the instigation of Minister Rishard Bathiudeen was a personal issue with Mannar Magistrate Judeson and that matter should be allowed to be resolved between the persons involved since the Magistrate is a close friend of the President and MP Namal Rajapaksa, sources from the Judges Association said.

The Chief Justice who was a firm stance against the incident has now changed her stance and is engaged in making personal phone calls to judges around the country. She has told them that the judiciary should not get involved in the executive’s actions and that this issue would also be resolved like the rest of the issue.

She has said that there was no need to engage in a strike and make various comments to the media.

A member of the Judges Association who spoke to us said that the reason for the sudden U-turn in the Chief Justice’s stance was the threat by the government to bring an impeachment motion against her in the House.

The member said there was no surprise to see in the Chief Justice’s stance after receiving the threat.