COLOMBO, January 7, 2013 | The Hindu
APSri Lankan opposition claims the impeachment
of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was carried out with prejudice.
Sri Lanka’s Appeals Court
on Monday quashed the findings of a parliamentary panel which found the
country’s first woman chief justice guilty of misuse of power, hours after the
President appointed a committee to review the highly-criticised impeachment
procedure.
“The Court of Appeal has
quashed the findings and issued a writ against the Parliament Select
Committee,” a lawyer for Justice Shirani Bandaranayake told reporters.
The Appeals Court ruling in
favour of the lady chief justice came after today’s announcement that
parliament would debate on the PSC report on January 10 and 11.
The parliamentary committee
had found 54-year-old Bandaranayake guilty on four counts out of the 14 point
charges, triggering a tussle between the legislature and the judiciary.
She was accused of
financial impropriety based on non declaration of assets and conflict of
interest in a case involving a failed investment company.
But the Supreme Court
declared last week that the committee did not have authority to probe the chief
justice.
Rajapaksa appoints panel
Earlier, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa appointed a four-member independent panel to review a parliamentary
committee’s impeachment of Bandaranayake, apparently in the wake of widespread
criticism.
Critics say the chief
justice did not get a fair trial and the case against her is an attempt by the
Rajapaksa government to stifle the judiciary’s independence.
Presidential spokesman
Mohan Samaranayake said an independent panel would start work today to review
the report of the, but did not name the members.
However, the Parliament is
set to go through with her sacking claiming that no court could impinge on
parliamentary powers and privileges.
The lady judge has pleaded
not guilty to all accusations against her and staged a walk out from the PSC
hearing calling it as lacking transparency and fairness.
The government angered by
rulings unfavourable towards it has moved for the removal of Bandaranayake.
Her husband is also under
investigation by the anti-graft commission for a dubious share transaction
involving the state savings bank which he headed.
