The Lawyers’ Collective headed by Dr. Jayampathi Wickremarathne while claiming that they would not accept the ‘purported’ appointment of a new Chief Justice said  a writ of quo warranto could be taken against any person accepting such appointment.

Speaking at a specially convened press conference, Dr. Wickremarathne flanked by senior lawyers Srinath Perera PC, J.C. Weliamuna, Kumar Rathnawel, Chandrapala Kumarage and a host of other lawyers said the dismissal and appointment of a another person to the Position of Chief Justice was illegal.

“It is entirely illegal and any citizen can seek a writ against any person who accepts such an appointment. The writ is sought against the person benefiting from such appointment and not the President who is immune from such action under article 25 of the constitution” he said. “The writ is sought to question the authority under which the new person would be acting.”

Speaking further, Dr. Wickremarathne explained the consequences of such an unconstitutional appointment stating that the validity and legality of any decision made by such an appointee is questionable.

“The purported appointee will also be ex-officio Chairman of the Judicial Services Commission which has all the authority to effect transfers and take administrative actions affecting the judiciary. All of these actions can be deemed illegal because the appointment itself is illegal and unconstitutional” he said.

All lawyers present reiterated that they would continue to respect the Chief Justice Dr. ShiraniBandaranayake as the Chief Justice of the country and stated that the sacking and new appointment was illegal.

Lawyer ChandrapalaKumarage said according to rumours the new appointee was a person at the helm of the Attorney General’s Department.

“During the past few years the Attorney General’s Department took back cases against politicians accused of murder and other such activities. This is the sort of person that the government is considering to appoint to the helm of the judiciary” he said.

SrinathPerera PC, urged the country to unite in what he termed ‘the darkest hour of our lives”

J. C. Weliamuna  said  the current Chief Justice had faced the worst trial in history ever faced by a judge.

“We salute her for her courage and will stand by any decision she takes. She faced the worst trial in history which was faced by any judge. Nowhere in the world has this sort of trial against a judge taken place. We have faced threats and intimidation during the past few weeks.  The judges have also been intimidated but we will go on with this struggle towards an independent judiciary” he said.(By HafeelFarisz)

Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)