Motion To Impeach Chief Justice Handed Over To Speaker A Short While Ago
By Colombo Telegraph -November 1, 2012
The Sri Lankan Government set the procedure in motion to impeach its Chief Justice today, when three UPFA MPs led by Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi handed a motion of impeachment over to Speaker of Parliament, Chamal Rajapaksa a short while ago.
Chief Justice Bandaranayake
The motion was handed over at the auspicious time of 10.12 a.m. by Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna and MP Arundika Fernando.
The motion has been signed by 117 Members of Parliament. The constitutional requirement for the Speaker of Parliament to entertain a motion of impeachment against a sitting Chief Justice is 75 signatures or one third of the 225-member legislature. To be carried, the motion requires a simple majority of the total seats in the house or 113.
According to Government sources, the motion has been filed under Article 107 of the constitution pertaining to the appointment and removal of judges, on charges of ‘improper conduct’.
The move to impeach the head of the Sri Lankan judiciary follows weeks of growing tensions between the executive and judicial officers, compounded by the Supreme Court’s blockade on the controversial Divi Neguma legislation that seeks to accrue powers devolved to the provinces and massive funds to a department functioning under powerful Government Minister Basil Rajapaksa. As recently as three weeks ago however, Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva rubbished claims of an impending impeachment attempt against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and said the ruling coalition was committed to ensuring the independence of the judiciary.
It is the first time in Sri Lanka’s judicial history that a motion of impeachment has been filed against a Chief Justice by the same Government that made the appointment. Attempts to impeach a chief justice last occurred in November 2003 when the then United National Front Government headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe tried to impeach former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. However the Government was dissolved by President Chandrika Kumaratunga shortly afterwards, scuttling the move.
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