Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake yesterday retired from service,after the resumption of office the previous day as the Chief Justice. Dr. Bandaranaike (57) was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1996. She was purportedly impeached by Parliament in 2013. Yesterday, she publicly announced her retirement at a ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court.
Justice K. Sripavan will be appointed the Chief Justice today.
The official and the unofficial Bar felicitated Dr. Bandaranaike. Prior to being appointed to the Supreme Court, she had held the posts of Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, where she also acted as the Vice Chancellor for some time.
President of the Bar Association Upul Jayasuriya in felicitating Dr. Bandaranayake said that the unwavering stand of the Bar was that the purported removal of Dr. Bandaranayake was unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void and of no force or effect in law, and that any purported appointment done placing reliance, on the purported removal was also null and void.
The Bar had urged the government to take necessary corrective action. The Bar was relieved and happy that at long last justice had prevailed and the illegality had been rectified. Many were surprised and taken aback with the decision of Dr. Bandaranayake to retire with immediate effect. It was a magnanimous decision, he said.
The Attorney General, Yuvanjan Wijayatilake PC spoke on behalf of the official Bar and paid a tribute to Dr. Bandaranayake.
Dr. Bandaranayake, thanking the gathering, said time and nature had nullified injustice. The allegations made against her were baseless and totally false. She had fought fearlessly for what was right and the truth, she said.
From The Island - http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=118588
