Chandra J. files petition in Appeal Court against move to impeach CJ

Tuesday, 20 November 2012 00:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Dharisha Bastians

Good governance activist and former private sector leader Chandra Jayaratne has filed a petition in the Court of Appeal yesterday seeking a ruling by the court that the process to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was unconstitutional and has no validity in law.

Via the petition Jayaratne is challenging the constitutionality of the process and seeking an interim injunction against the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice until the petition is heard.

Appearing on behalf of the petitioner is President’s Counsel K. Kanageswaran. The 11 members of the Parliamentary Select Committee set up by the Speaker to probe the impeachment have been cited as respondents to the petition.

The petition is to be taken up for hearing today.

The case will be heard by a three judge bench of the Appeals Court, headed by Justice S. Sriskandarajah and including Justices Anil Gooneratne and K.S.J. De Abrew.

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has been summoned to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Friday (23).