New CJ listed to hear appeal against Shirani B’s Appeals Court verdict

Chief Justice Mohan Pieris is listed on the bench to hear an appeal filed to overturn a Writ issued by the Court of Appeal quashing the PSC report in favour of his predecessor Shirani Bandaranayake who was sacked from office in January.

The appeal is listed to be taken up before Chief Justice Pieris and Justices P.A. Ratnayake and K. Sripavan today when it is taken up for support before the Supreme Court.

   The appeal has been filed at the Supreme Court by S. K. Hewage of Gampaha and argues that the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to quash the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee.

The appeal directly deals with the legitimacy of the removal of Chief Justice Pieris’ predecessor.

  The Court of Appeal in January found in favour of petitioner and then Chief Justice Bandaranayake, quashing the Parliamentary Select Committee report that had found her guilty on three counts listed in the impeachment motion against her.

   The Court of Appeal ruling was based on an interpretation by the Supreme Court that the process of impeachment was unlawful and inconsistent with the constitution. (DB)