Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has removed from office the Supreme Court Chief Justice Mohan Peiris and reinstated the latter’s predecessor, Shirani Bandaranayake, who will retire on Thursday (today).
Mr Peiris was sacked on the grounds that the government of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had removed Ms Bandaranayake through a flawed and illegal impeachment process.
Ms Bandaranayake returned to her chamber on Wednesday to a rousing welcome by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).
Explaining the reinstated chief justice’s extraordinary decision to retire just after a day in office, her attorney, K. Neelakandan, said that Ms Bandaranayake only wanted that justice be done to her.
“Now that justice has been done, she is satisfied.”
After the retirement of Ms Bandaranayake, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, K. Sripavan, would be sworn in as chief justice, sources said.
