‘The excreta bag hurled from the bench strikes the fan’ - “Contempt of court” - Is there anything remaining in court more disdaining than this ?
An analysis by lawyer Chandrasiri Seneviratne
(Lanka-e-News -12.June.2016, 5.20PM) During the past weekend , all the media were publishing many reports that were derogatory and disdainful of the courts . Sadly this was not because of the actions of outsiders but shockingly owing to two judges Thilina Gamage and Kanishka Wijeratne who are unfortunately intimate and integral parts of the very judiciary they represent .One of the weekend news reports described Thilina as an absconding judge and Kanishka as a bosom pal of his. Such reports of the misconduct and unprofessional behavior of judges are most vilifying and insolent of the courts ,and dents the dignity of the judiciary.
The outcome of these vilifications and insults however do not go to disgrace the ancestry indicated in the birth certificates of the judges involved , rather it only undermines and erodes the confidence and faith the public repose in the judiciary. The misconduct of the afore-noted judges has deprived the people of the only opportunity they had to control their anger by claiming ‘ okay we shall look after that in the courts.’ That is we have recourse to the courts.
That is where the crux of the issue lies.
It is unfortunate that the days when a judge himself heard the case after forcibly raping the young wife who came to get bail for her rascal of a husband , are still not bygones though it is our hope that period is a thing of the past. In other words ,after the court orders ‘silence’ those who are gracing the bench are judges like Thilina Gamages , Kanishka Wejeratnes following Lenin Ratnayakes , and Gihan Plapitiyas.
Gihan Pilapitiya recently gave a new deplorable dimension to court in relation to a letter sent by a Mahanayake requesting the controversial robbed elephant calf to be returned to the suspects .That order not only created a stir among the media but also the general public. That order was akin to an instance in which , because the kasippu that was seized by the Police were distilled for a wedding house purpose , the illicit liquor barrels seized from the Kasippu den shall be handed over back to the kasippu dealers merely based on the letter received.
