SC & AC Judges Should Resign Voluntarily
By ANI Ekanayaka –May 24, 2015
Prof. A.N.I. Ekanayaka
Hon Justice K Sripavan,
Chief Justice,
Supreme Court Complex
Colombo 12
Chief Justice,
Supreme Court Complex
Colombo 12
Your Honour,
Volountary Resignation of Judges Enabling New Appointments by Constitutional Council
As a citizen I am writing to you hesitantly and with a sense of trepidation not even knowing whether in doing so I might be guilty of some impropriety. If so I hope you would forgive me for I write respectfully in a spirit of humility motivated purely by a zeal for righteousness truth and equity in the administration of justice.
Indeed for those of my generation it has always been natural to regard the judiciary with the utmost reverence bordering on awe. In my younger days names like Gratien, HNG Fenando, Hema Basnayake, HWR Weerasooriya, TS Fernando, Weeramanthri and Sansoni were icons of sturdy judicial independence and integrity. They shaped the lofty esteem with which we came to regard the judiciary. In later years they were followed by others like Percy Colin Thom, Neville Samarakoon and the late great Mark Fernando who typified a certain nobility and lofty detachment that one associated with judges of the superior courts. Such judges ( and there have been others besides ) were able to “ Inspire Public Trust and Confidence” as stated in the current vision statement of the Supreme Court.
However as you know all that has changed for the worse in recent years especially during the Rajapaksa regime and particularly after the passage of the notorious 18th Amendment. The corruption of the judiciary through political appointments and political influence has shattered “public trust and confidence” in the legal system. Most depressing of all has been the proclivity for fawning judges to happily bow to such interference where they had the undoubted choice of saying “no” as demanded by the high calling of their office.
