Judges should conduct themselves in an exemplary manner

The Judiciary is a highly respected segment in any country and there is no exception in Sri Lanka. Be it the Supreme Court or any other Court of the country, judges should conduct themselves in a highly exemplary manner and earn respect for their impartial conduct.

They are perhaps the most respected segment in society and hardly come for social events and shun public life as there could be a conflict of interest. Hence, they hardly make political headlines nor do they conduct themselves in a controversial and political manner.

But Dr. Mrs. Shirani Bandaranayake hit political headlines and has been in the limelight of many political columns ever since her remarks after an impeachment motion was brought against her, alleging that her conduct has been unbecoming for a person holding the respected office of Chief Justice.

Unfortunately, the Judiciary was used to challenge the constitutional act of her impeachment initiated by the Parliament. Instead of facing the charges and attempting to clear her name, if she is innocent, she ran away from the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) proceedings, amidst serious charges that are unbecoming for a person holding the post of Chief Justice.

She sought the cover of the judiciary in a desperate bid to go scot free, rather than trying to prove her innocence before the PSC.

That ultimately turned out to be a political issue as interested parties both here and abroad joined the bandwagon and used her case to gain undue political mileage.

Bankrupt local politicians who have been successively rejected by the masses, joined certain foreign hands and the LTTE rump to make a big hue and cry, grabbing the popular slogan of ‘the independence of the judiciary’.

But what a certain section of the judiciary, lawyers, certain Opposition politicians and NGO activists conveniently forgot was that the issue of Dr. Mrs. Bandaranayake had nothing to do with the independence of the judiciary but a mere matter of her personal and professional conduct that is unbecoming of a person holding the high office of Chief Justice.

Hence, the Opposition politicians who could never capture power as the masses have no faith in them, joined international elements and LTTE cohorts to give anti-government elements a new lease of life using the impeachment drama.

The two-day debate on the impeachment of Dr. Mrs. Bandaranayake took place in Parliament on Thursday and Friday as the political opportunists and NGO goons, funded by the LTTE rump, made every effort to organise unruly demonstrations to paint a different picture to the international community.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran was dressed in black stating that it was a black day. It was a pity that those who supported LTTE terrorism and Tiger ‘courts’ now shed crocodile tears on behalf the country’s judiciary. Had Sumanthiran and his TNA parliamentarians been so respectful of Sri Lanka’s judiciary, they should have told the LTTE to close their own ‘courts’.

As parliamentarian Arundika Fernando pointed out, it was the innocent Tamil people who suffered the most due to the brutal terrorism of the LTTE. During that period the independence of Judiciary was threatened but they did not utter a word.

Those who talk of the independence of judiciary today did not utter a single word when the LTTE maintained its own ‘terrorist courts’.

Earlier on Thursday Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa told Parliament that he does not see any reason to postpone the debate on the Parliamentary Select Committee Report on the charges in the Impeachment Motion against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and ordered the commencing of the debate stating that if the members did not have adequate time to scrutinise the report, they should have raised the matter at the Party Leaders’ Meeting that was held earlier in the week.

He made this observation delivering his decision after a debate took place following the request by Opposition members to postpone the debate for a month. The debate lasted for more than one hour and after submissions of both Opposition and Government members the Speaker suspended the House for 10 minutes.

Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Parliament sat in judicial capacity and that there had been a presentation of the PSC report. Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, who served as the Chairman of the PSC, said that the proceedings of the committee cannot be taken up for debate before the lapse of one month since it is presented to Parliament under Standing Order 78.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, the Chief Government Whip, told the House that the PSC has only to report it and it was duly done on December 8. Party Leaders’ Meetings were held twice thereafter and it decided to take up this mater for debate. But now they attempt to postpone this mater deliberately.

Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the UNP’s decision to vote against the impeachment resolution is tantamount to approving the corrupt administration of justice. He said the UNP has disregarded charges of misbehaviour and incapacity levelled against Dr. Mrs. Bandaranayake, that led to the materialisation of her impeachment, with their decision to vote against the PSC findings of the charges concerned.

“What really matters is the charges. The process of impeachment is a secondary concern,” the minister pointed out. Nowhere in the world has the judiciary issued writs against Parliament, except in the case of the impeachment of Chief Justice Dr Bandaranayaka,” said Dr. Senaratne.

“Moreover, it has never been the legal tradition of English law, which is followed in the country, to issue writs on Parliament”, he said. “It is not in the behavioural standards of common legal practice of British law,” he said.

“On the contrary, there had been cases, where the British judiciary had issued warrants for the arrest of some persons who had gone to Courts to get writs against Parliament.

They were held in custody for contempt of Parliament, because it is a punishable offence. In the instance of the ongoing impeachment, it is the Chief Justice who had gone to Courts to get writs against Parliament,” he said.

President in North for Thai Pongal

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to make a three-day visit to Jaffna on the invitation of Jaffna District MP and the Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Douglas Devananda.

According to Minister Douglas Devananda, President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be in Jaffna from tomorrow (14), participating in a number of official events and ceremonies.

According to the Minister, the President will participate in the national Thai Pongal ceremony to be held in the College of Education in Kopay – a town 16 km north of the Jaffna city tomorrow.

On Tuesday morning the President will preside over the District Coordinating Committee meetings of Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts in Jaffna.

The meeting is expected to review the progress made in the year 2012 and also expected to finalise programs for 2013 for the Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts.

In the evening the President is expected to open a pier constructed by the Sri Lanka Navy at Nainativu to facilitate pilgrims visiting Nagapooshany Amman Temple and the Buddhist temple located in the islet. On the final day of his visit to the North, the President will open a hospital building at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided a grant of 2,298 million Japanese Yen (approximately Rs. 2,900 million) for the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to restore tertiary level medical functions, by constructing a central facility to house core functions such as surgeries, intensive care, central supply and sterilising, diagnostic imaging and laboratory, improving facilities and equipment and also providing training programs to maintain the equipment.

The President is also expected to open the uninterrupted electricity supply program to the peninsula at Chunnakam.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) under the directions of the Minister of Power and Energy has set up a 24MW thermal power plant in Chunnakam. This would stabilise the electricity supply in the Jaffna peninsula.

Three 8.6 MW thermal electricity generators are being set up by Lakdanavi, a subsidiary of the CEB.

The full cost of the projected is estimated at Rs. 4,000 million. Lakdanavi stated that the 24 MW of power would be integrated to the main grid of the Jaffna peninsula and is expected to provide uninterrupted power supply to the peninsula.

Divineguma Bill

Meanwhile, the Divineguma Bill was passed with amendments in Parliament last week with a majority of 107 votes. 160 voted in favour while 53 voted against.

The UNP, JVP and TNA voted against the Bill, while 11 MPs abstained from voting. More than 10 Amendments were made to the Bill before it was presented to Parliament.

JVP fails

The JVP could not get the mileage they expected from the impeachment issue though a couple of their parliamentarians made stunning appearances.

After experiencing a severe erosion in their vote base, the JVP tried their level best to get the maximum opportunity out of the Chief Justice’s issue. The impeachment motion against Chief Justice Bandaranayake was passed in Parliament on Friday with a two-thirds majority with 155 MPs voting for the motion and 49 against. Twenty members were absent at the time of the voting.

Members of the ruling UPFA voted for the motion while the UNP and TNA voted against the motion.

The JVP parliamentarians walked out at the commencement of the debate. It now appears to be crystal clear the hidden agenda of the UNP and Tiger-proxy TNA as the two parties have had common understanding on most of the key issues.

According to Standing Order 78(A) section 7, the motion that was passed in Parliament was presented to the President, on behalf of Parliament, by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.

Thereafter according to Article 107(2) of the Constitution the Chief Justice could now be removed by an order of the President within the next few days.

The resolution adopted by Parliament was sent to the President on Friday night for further action.

Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the Government had proceeded with the impeachment motion constitutionally.

Everybody is bound to safeguard the independence and dignity of the judiciary, President Rajapaksa said during a ceremony at the Sugathadasa Stadium last morning to hand over letters of appointment letters to 52,000 unemployed graduates.

The President urged the public to refrain from defiling the dignity of the sacred land, which is the judiciary. The court premises have not been used for political activities in the past, however now it has become a 'picketing roundabout', he said

Rizana’s execution

The execution of Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana not only became a political issue which promoted to call back its envoy from Saudi Arabia but also turn out to be an international issue which caught the attention of the United Nations Secretary General.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed dismay on Friday at the execution of Rizana in Saudi Arabia over the death of an infant in her care.

Rizana Nafeek was beheaded in the town of Dawadmy, near the capital Riyadh last Wednesday morning after being sentenced to death in 2007.

She was accused by her Saudi employer of killing his infant daughter while she was bottle-feeding in 2005 and her former employer’s wife too had come to the prison to witness the Lankan lass’ beading.

Ban’s office said that the UN Secretary-general “is concerned about reports of irregularities in her detention and trial, as well as the increase in the use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia.

Ban insisted that all men and women in Saudi Arabia - regardless of their migration status or nationality - be treated under international human rights law, which includes the right to a fair trial.

“Currently, in Saudi Arabia, women do not have equal access to the courts or an equal opportunity to obtain justice.

The Secretary-General is concerned that this is a situation which is even more precarious for women migrant workers given their foreign status,” the statement said.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said the infant was strangled after a dispute between the maid and the baby’s mother.Saudi Arabia, a US ally, is an absolute monarchy that follows the strict Wahhabi school of Islam.

Judges base decisions on their own interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, rather than on a written legal code or on precedent, foreign media reports said.

Mervyn resigns

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as the leader of the SLFP, accepted the resignation of Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva from the post of SLFP chief organiser for the Kelaniya electorate.

Earlier, Minister Silva told his supporters that he was grieved by the killing of Hasitha Madawala and that he would temporarily resign from the post of party organiser for Kelaniya. The Minister rejected all the allegations levelled against him but decided to resign because of the present situation in the area.

Five suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha member Madawala by the Criminal Investigations Department.

One suspect was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) while trying to flee the country and the others were arrested on information given by him.

They said the pistol, allegedly used for the crime was also found after interrogating the suspects.

Madawala, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman near his home at Waragoda, Kelaniya last weekend.

All those arrested were from Kelaniya area.

Meanwhile a co-ordinating secretary and the parliamentary affairs secretary of Minister Silva was among the five suspects arrested in connection with the murder.

CID sources said that one of the suspects was also a former organiser of the Sinharamulla.

The CID said that investigations had also revealed that the father of the main suspect had spied the whereabouts of the slain Madawala, prior to the murder.