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Thursday, 24 January 2013 01:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians
The Ceremonial Sitting to welcome new Chief Justice Mohan Peiris was held at the Supreme Court yesterday, despite a boycott by the Bar Association and a blackout of the private.
Several judges, officials from the Attorney General’s Department and lawyers attended the ceremony at the Superior Court Complex at Hulftsdorp last morning.
Two formal addresses are traditionally made at the Ceremonial Sitting to welcome a new Chief Justice, one by the President of the Bar Association as the head of the unofficial bar and one by the Attorney General, as the head of the official Bar.
However, BASL President Wijeyadasa Rajapakse did not attend the Ceremonial Sitting, in adherence to the BASL resolution passed in December that the Bar would boycott the 
ceremony if Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was unlawfully removed from office.
The address on behalf of the unofficial Bar was delivered by Chairman of Bank of Ceylon, President’s Counsel Razik Zarook. Attorney General Palitha Fernando delivered the address on behalf of the official Bar.
Among those present at the ceremony were Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
Meanwhile, anti-impeachment activists in the legal community charged that the Ceremonial Sitting was held in breach of traditions followed for over 200 years and was boycotted by the BASL and all leading President’s Counsel in the country.
“For the first time in the history the Ceremonial Sitting to welcome new Chief Justice was held under heavy Police protection as has never been seen before,” a report from legal activists said.
“Notably absent at the ceremony were President’s Counsel Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, K. Kanag-Isvaran, Romesh de Silva, Ikram Mohamed, Srinath Perera, Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne, Geoffry Alagaratnam, Jayantha Gunasekera, Anil Silva, Ananda Wijesekera, Maureen Seneviratne, Rohan Sahabandu, Uditha Egalahewa, Prasanna Jayewardene, Maithree Wickremasinghe, Harsha Amarasekera, Nalin Ladduwahetty and Senior Lawyers S.L. Gunasekera and I.S. de Silva,” the legal activists said.
They said that a ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court is traditionally organised after the Bar Association of Sri Lanka makes an official request for a ceremonial welcome of Judge who is appointed to the Supreme Court. “Without such a request there cannot be an official ceremonial sitting,” the lawyers said.
They said pro-Government lawyers who are holding key posts in State corporations and departments had participated in yesterday’s ceremony. “There was not a single President’s Counsel with a standing who was willing to break the tradition and go against the resolution passed by Bar Association of Sri Lanka,” the lawyers said.
