Justice Sriskandarajah was victim of a political witch-hunt: Karu

Saturday, 25 January 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

UNP Leadership Council Chairman says Court of Appeal President had been denied opportunity to serve on Supreme Court due to his independence

Mourning the passing of Court of Appeal President Justice S. Sriskandarajah, aged 60, UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya said the illustrious judicial officer had been arbitrarily denied the right to serve in the country’s highest court because of the vengeful actions of the

Executive. Issuing a media release to express shock and dismay at Justice Sriskandarajah’s sudden demise, Jayasuriya said that as a judge who believed in an independent and vibrant Judiciary, the deceased Judge had the courage and the prowess to stand up to the powers that be, irrespective of the consequences. The Leadership Council Chairman said that Justice Sriskandarajah had possessed the intellectual capacity and the courage to steer clear of such pressures and was a champion of the Rule of Law that he fostered and nurtured at the cost of his life. “For this he sacrificed decades of his professional life and the hard earned opportunity to serve the nation in the Apex Court,” Jayasuriya said, referring to the fact that the Court of Appeal President had been overlooked for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge four times since 2011. “This right of his was denied to him by the arbitrary and dictatorial actions of the Executive in a blatant and heinous manner. Such revengeful actions of the Executive snatched away his life in an untimely manner depriving society of an Independent Judge,” he charged. The statement said that the pinnacle of Justice Sriskandarajah’s career was the Historical Judgment to quash the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee that sought to oust Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake on trumped up charges. “This Judgment was totally ignored by the Parliament which acted in violation of the same leaving a black stain on Parliamentary democracy,” Jayasuriya’s statement charged. “We join the Civil Society to mourn the death of a great judge of our time, who was made to succumb to his death in the midst of a political witch hunt,” he said. (DB)