Mohan Peiris says he has not retired, resigned or vacated his office

Monday, 2 February 2015 01:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The former Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Mohan Peiris says he was appointed as Chief Justice following the proper removal of his predecessor Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake by Parliament and that his removal from the post is unconstitutional and unlawful. Issuing a statement Peiris said that maintaining the dignity and decorum associated with the office of the Chief Justice and ensuring its

respectability and propriety is his main concern. “I have not retired, resigned or vacated my office of Chief Justice, but, due to exertions by external forces reinforced by an extra judicial chain of events, find myself displaced from office by an unconstitutional process having functioned continuously in my appointment for over two years. There are times when might overtakes right and the helpless have to succumb to injustice,” Peiris said in the statement. “Maintaining the dignity and decorum associated with the office of the Chief Justice and ensuring its respectability and propriety is my prime concern. As the pinnacle of our Judicial administration, it should be preciously safeguarded in its pristine purity; now and for the future - in the need to preserve justice as a wholesome entity,” he added.