Shirani Bandaranayake arriving at the Supreme Court complex in Colombo yesterday, after new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena restored her position saying that her sacking two years ago was illegal.

AFP/Colombo

Sri Lanka’s new president yesterday restored the country’s former chief justice after she was controversially impeached by the previous administration led by Mahinda Rajapakse.
Lawyers welcomed Shirani Bandaranayake with bouquets of flowers at the Supreme Court in Colombo, although the decision to reinstate her will likely be largely ceremonial as she is
expected to step down today.
A government official who asked not to be named said President Maithripala Sirisena had written to Bandaranayake to say her 2013 impeachment was unconstitutional and she should return to work.
“President Maithripala Sirisena has reinstated the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake on a special cabinet approval,” state-run Independent Television Network said.
“Therefore the appointment of Chief Justice Mohan Peiris will be cancelled and considered as an illegal appointment.”
“The chief justice was restored and the imposter was asked to go,” said the official, referring to Mohan Peiris, who was appointed to the role by former president Rajapakse.
The Presidential media division said both the removal of Bandaranayake and the appointment of Peiris were null and void because the Rajapakse government had not followed the proper constitutional
procedure.
Sirisena had vowed in his manifesto for the January 8 elections to restore Bandaranayake, who was sacked after her judgements went against Rajapakse’s regime.
But the influential Bar Association of Sri Lanka said that, while Bandaranayake was pleased her name has been cleared, she intends to retire from the post yesterday.
“The new government accepted our position all along that the impeachment process was never completed,” BASL chief Upul Jayasuriya also told
reporters.
Bandaranayake herself was not available for comment, but a source close to her said the decision to quit was made in the interests of keeping the judiciary independent.
“A large number of lawyers defended her (when she was impeached),” the source said.
“If she gets on the bench, someone could accuse her of favouring those lawyers who backed her. She is keen to avoid such a situation.”
Bandaranayake’s sacking was widely criticised, with the UN Human Rights Council calling it an assault on judicial
independence.
She was impeached on charges of misconduct, including an allegation that she failed to declare the existence of bank accounts, which were in fact empty.
But despite a chorus of criticism at home and abroad, Rajapakse appointed Peiris, the government’s senior legal
adviser, as her replacement.
Since Rajapakse’s dramatic defeat at the elections, Peiris had been under pressure to stand down after he was implicated in an alleged coup attempt to keep the former leader in power.
There was no comment
from Peiris.

Lawyers, civil society groups demand resignation of Mohan Peiris

Sri Lankan lawyers and civil society organisations staged a large protest outside the Supreme Court in Colombo yesterday to press for the resignation of the island country’s controversial chief justice.
With slogans saying “Send CJ44 home”, the protesters demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, claiming that his appointment was illegal, Xinhua reported.
The protesters also warned that the agitation would continue outside the country’s Supreme Court every morning till such time that Peiris steps down.
“He was appointed illegally by the former president. He is also a suspect in the coup attempt. He has to resign,” one lawyer at the protest said.
The newly elected Sri Lankan government also has called for Peiris’s resignation with the national executive committee stating that it would take action against Peiris “soon” if he did not step down on his own.
The government has been in negotiations with the chief justice to hand him a diplomatic posting in order to resolve the matter amicably after he demanded such a posting in exchange for his resignation.
The chief justice lodged a complaint with the police yesterday, alleging that he was threatened by a group of people including a western provincial councillor who visited his home on Tuesday evening.
Police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said that the chief justice lodged the complaint that the group including provincial councillor Azath Sally threatened him and asked him to resign immediately.
“We will investigate the complaint,” Rohana said.
However, Sally has denied these allegations.
Peiris has also been under continuous pressure to resign due to his presence at the presidential office shortly after the January 8 presidential election where it is alleged that the former government was deliberating on a coup attempt.
Though the previous government has denied these allegations, the matter is being investigated after a complaint was lodged with the criminal investigations department by the newly elected Maithripala Sirisena government.



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