Sri Lanka's chief justice rejects impeachment charges

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s chief justice, facing an impeachment motion filed by the government, rejected on Friday the charges against her and vowed to refute them. The bid to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka’s first female head of the Supreme Court, has raised the risk of a destabilising clash between the government and judiciary. The confrontation follows months of deteriorating relations between the chief justice and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with the government complaining she had over-stepped her authority and Bandaranayake’s supporters complaining of interference. The impeachment motion, filed by the ruling party and lodged in parliament on Tuesday, contains 14 charges ranging from undeclared assets to violating constitutional provisions. [caption id=“attachment_520897” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  This May 18, 2011 President Mahinda Rajapakse (R) posing for a photograph with Shirani Bandaranayake (L) soon after she was appointed as Sri Lanka’s first woman chief justice. AFP[/caption] A law firm representing Bandaranayake, Neelakandan & Neelakandan, said in a statement she had declared all her assets and received no extra pay from anywhere since being appointed chief justice. “Clearly there has been no financial impropriety on her part,” the law firm said. “Our client totally denies the other allegations and can easily refute them.” A parliamentary committee will be set up to investigate the charges. Bandaranayake could be removed with a simple majority of 113 votes in the 225-member parliament. Rajapaksa and his allies control more than two-thirds of seats. Bandaranayake’s supporters say she has been trying to preserve the independence of the judiciary in a highly politicised environment. She recently came under criticism for ruling against a bid by the central government to take control of a 80 billion rupees development budget, saying it had to be approved by the country’s nine provincial councils. The block on the bill angered the government and its supporters, some of whom accused the judiciary under Bandaranayake of over stepping its authority. The United States has raised its concern, calling on the government this month to “avoid any action that would impede the efficacy and independence of Sri Lanka’s judiciary”. Reuters