Issues Concerning Judiciary: MS & RW Should Take The Full Responsibility
By Nagananda Kodituwakku –May 20, 2015
Nagananda Kodituwakku
Now, various statements are appearing in both electronic and print media, criticizing the Judges in the Superior Courts for bias. I believe that this approach simply shows lack of foresight on the part of the new regime. In my view, without blaming any, MS RW regime should blame only them for lack of coherence.
New regime has already betrayed the people, as the 19th amendment expressly permitted the judges in the superior courts to hold office and continue to exercise and discharge the powers and functions after it become law.
In 1978 when President JR Jayewardene determined to install a ‘vibrant independent judiciary’ a specific provision was incorporated in the 1978 Constitution (Article 163), removing all judges in the Supreme Court immediately before the commencement of the Constitution.
The new regime knew that former President made several arbitrary appointments to the Superior Court System simply according to his whims and fancies and if the present regime had an iota of common sense they could have easily included all the judges in the Superior Court system in the Transitional Provision (Section 54) to the 19th Amendment that removed only the commissioners holding offices in various Commissions, after it became law, which however, expressly retained the judges in the Superior Courts.
In fact, when the 19th Amendment bill was published, by way of a Petition to the Supreme Court, I challengedthe retention of these judges, on the basis that they had betrayed the Judicial power of the people they exercise on trust by responding to MR’s two questions referred to Court, which lack any ‘public importance’ whatsoever, as required by the Article 129 of the Constitution. In fact, Mohan Peiris absolutely denied the people of this country, any hearing on this matter, including the professional body of lawyers, the bar association and he considered that the Supreme Court was under the command of the executive president.
