The judgment could temporarily derail moves to impeach Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka’s first woman chief justice. According to the Reuters news agency reports, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government maintains that she ‘had been overstepping her authority’.

Financial irregularities

Indeed, the report points out that last month’s parliamentary impeachment committee found that Chief Justice Bandaranayake was guilty of a range of financial irregularities as well of conflicts of interest and failures to declare her assets. However, the judge’s supporters maintain the impeachment moves are simply another in a long line of political interference with the bench.
The chief justice has been in post since May 2011; she qualified as a lawyer in 1983 and obtained a doctorate in public law from London University in 1986.

Independence threat

Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling said that any investigations into alleged bench misconduct should be conducted by an independent judicial body.
The case has triggered international concern, with the Reuters report pointing out that the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the US have called on the Rajapaksa government to ensure the independence of Sri Lanka’s judiciary.