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Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Saturday, 8 December 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians and Ashwin Hemmathagama
The Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the motion of impeachment against the country’s top judge is likely to present its report on the probe to the Speaker today, just one month after the resolution was tabled in Parliament, the Daily FT reliably learns.
The report, which will pronounce on the guilt or innocence of Chief Justice Shirani Bandar-anayake, was being drafted in Parliament late last night, with several draftsmen and clerks sequestered for the purpose, informed sources said. Fourteen charges were brought against the Chief Justice in the motion of impeachment signed by 117 MPs of the ruling UPFA coalition. The report is likely to find Bandaranayake guilty on at least three charges, the Daily FT learns.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa last afternoon summoned an emergency meeting of party leaders of the UPFA coalition to discuss matters pertaining to the impeachment motion According to highly-placed sources, once the PSC report is tabled in Parliament, the matter is likely to be taken up for vote on 8 January 2013. The move to submit the report on the impeachment probe comes on the heels of a walkout by the Chief Justice and her lawyers on Thursday citing a lack of faith in the PSC’s ability to guarantee her a fair trial. This was followed up yesterday by the four Opposition representatives on the PSC, MPs John Amaratunga, Lakshman Kiriella, R. Sampanthan and Vijitha Herath, quitting the committee.
The Opposition lawmakers charged that the probe undertaken by the PSC lacked procedural clarity and decried the abuse hurled at the Chief Justice by Government MPs on the panel on Thursday. At a press conference in Parliament yesterday, the Opposition legislators said they were unable to participate in the ongoing witch-hunt that was “grouping in the dark on an ad-hoc basis” and said they were forced to quit the process on those grounds.
Voicing their concerns on a common platform, the four members held the absence of a clear direction regarding the procedure to be followed by the Select Committee, whether documents were to be made available to the Chief Justice and her lawyers, the standard of proof which would be required, and the need to arrive at a definition of “misbehaviour” as key reasons leading to the boycott.
The Opposition MPs charged that the process was pre-judged and went against all laws of natural justice, because the Chief Justice had not been given a list of evidence against her or provided sufficient time to prepare her defence. As a result, the ‘judgment’ by the PSC will be an ex-parte process and will not have the backing of Opposition legislators on the committee. Government MPs defended the committee’s probe. Minister John Seneviratne told journalists in Parliament yesterday that the Chief Justice had insulted the Constitution by walking out the PSC.
Meanwhile, when PSC sittings resumed following the Opposition walkout, Supreme Court Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane gave evidence before the committee of seven MPs. Justice Tilakawardane is believed to have been summoned to answer questions about the charges in the impeachment motion pertaining to the Ceylinco and Golden Key cases.
Yesterday, lawyers for the Chief Justice appealed to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to defer the probe until an independent and impartial tribunal can be set up to investigate the charges.
In their letter to the Speaker, Neelakandan & Neelakandan Attorneys-at-Law, who are representing the Chief Justice in the impeachment case, said that their client would undoubtedly be vindicated in a fair trial.
In a related development yesterday the entire opposition stormed out of chamber after the Government prevented JVP MP Vijitha Herath from speaking about PSC resignation.
