CJ game for independent, impartial probe

By Dharisha Bastians

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has reiterated that she remains willing to face any independent inquiry constituted according to the law that would investigate the 14 charges of impeachment filed against her, even as Parliament prepares to debate on the motion today.

Lawyers for Bandaranayake who held a special media briefing yesterday emphasised that the Chief Justice did not walk out of the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings against her because she could not face the inquiry.

“This is very clear. She walked out because there was no procedure stipulated for the conduct of the proceedings, she could not get a fair hearing before the Committee, and because of the abusive way in which she was treated,” Attorney at Law Saliya Peiris told reporters.

Peiris said that it was an indictment on the PSC that President’s Counsel Thirantha Waraliyadda, who appeared on a talk show on State media recently, claimed that the underworld kingpin Potta Nauffer was treated better by the courts of law than the Chief Justice was treated by Legislative Committee investigating her. “And Waraliyadda should know,” Pieris said, “because he was representing him.”

Bandaranayake’s legal team said that following the writ issued by the Court of Appeal and based on the ruling by the Supreme Court, the PSC decisions were no longer valid and before the law there was no longer a report of the Committee’s findings.















CJ game...

The lawyers said that there were scurrilous and misleading allegations being made against Bandaranayake in sections of the media that were absolutely false. Pieris said that there was a wild claim by certain sections of the Government that there had been Rs. 256 million in the Chief Justice’s bank accounts and that there were allegations of tax fraud against her.

“This is absolutely false. There has never been an amount of money to the tune of Rs. 256 million in any of the Chief Justice’s bank accounts. If these were true, why weren’t they included in the allegations made against her in the impeachment motion?” Pieiris queried.

The attorneys claimed that all three charges on which the Chief Justice was found guilty by the seven Government members of the PSC were easily disprovable.

Regarding Charge #5 of the impeachment, which stated that she was not fit to hold office since there was a case filed against her husband in a lower Court, Pieris said that the Constitution was very clear that impeachable charges had to be proved misbehaviour against the judge concerned.

“There is a risk to every judge in this country if this is a valid argument. A spouse or child could be brought up on a charge and the judge could be removed on those grounds,” he said, adding that there was no ethical, legal, or even commonsensical basis for this allegation and charge of guilt.

Citing the report by the Watawala Committee, a group of chartered accountants set up by then Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane, the lawyers said the Committee had granted approval to Trillium Residencies to make sales of their properties with up to five per cent off the sale price in May 2010 over one year before the Chief Justice began hearing the case. The report of the Committee cited in the PSC report, states that the unit sold to the Chief Justice’s sister was number 50 on the list of sales approved by the committee.

“This was an ordinary discount granted to anyone who purchased. What the PSC judges should have done was to determine what kind of a discount was granted to other purchasers – that would have been one of our questions in cross examination,” Attorney-at-Law Sugath Caldera said.

The lawyers said that the Chief Justice was yet to inform them of her decision as to how to proceed in the face of the Government ignoring the orders of the Court and pushing through with the debate on the impeachment.