By Elmore Perera –

Elmore Perera

Any individual willing and able to discern the rationale of what is taking place in Sri Lanka can have no doubt that the 43^rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka has been unjustly vilified, persecuted, condemned and crucified. A once respected academic prostituted any little reputation he had left, by stating that “the Supreme Court decision was not worth the paper it was written on” and justifying the unlawful process as being “in accordance with local procedures”.

Non-Sri Lankans who dare to comment adversely on this injustice will immediately be labelled as traitors and/or as “International Conspirators”. This perhaps explains, what appears to be the surprisingly lukewarm concern expressed by the International Community.

The Sovereign people of Sri Lanka have, willy-nilly mortgaged their “inalienable Sovereignty” to the 225 “geniuses” who purport to represent them in the Legislature. The Sovereign people fear to expose themselves to a swift demise on the direction of the all-powerful executive, for alleged “acts of treason”, by failing to acknowledge the majesty of the Emperor’s New Clothes.

When the decade of Judicial Terrorism ended in June 2009, Bandaranayake J and Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC were the only qualified appointees to the exalted position of the 42^nd Chief Justice, in terms of the 17^th Amendment. The independence and integrity of both were unimpeachable – thereby rendering them unsuitable for service in the emerging empire. However, a judge who was guilty of collusion in an abuse of the process of Court, and therefore  unable to resist easily manipulation by the Executive President, was appointed as the 42^nd Chief Justice.  Simultaneously, the President appointed the spouse of Bandaranayake J as Chairman  of the Insurance Corporation, giving rise to the clearly false impression that it was part of a deal he had made with Bandaranayake J. Hon, K.C. Kamalasabeyson was thereafter required to retire prematurely, to make way for the President’s confidant, legal adviser and friend as Attorney General.

This 42^nd   CJ served his master well, by inter alia,

(i)            paving the way for the President to appoint as Secretary to the all-important Treasury, an officer who, the Supreme Court had held to have deceived the Cabinet and arrogated to himself the powers of the Cabinet,

(ii)          putting Gen. Sarath Fonseka (who led the armed forces to defeat LTTE terrorism) behind bars and depriving him of his seat in Parliament by holding that the Court Martial was a Court, and

(iii)        engineering the repeal of the 17^th Amendment and abolition of the limitation on the President’s eligibility to seek re-election as President, by the adoption of the 18^th Amendment which effectively vested in the President the “inalienable Sovereignty of the People”.

The illusion that Bandaranayake J had sought the President’s patronage was reinforced when the President, on his own initiative, appointed her spouse as Chairman of the National Savings Bank on 15^th May 2010.

One year later, on 18^th May 2011, Bandaranayake J was appointed as the 43^rd  Chief Justice in preference to the then Attorney General, Mohan Peiris P.C. who was appointed as Legal Advisor to the Cabinet – a clearly political appointment. The 42^nd CJ was amply rewarded for his treacherous services to the Executive President by appointment as the Senior Legal Advisor to the President to further exploit his special expertise.

Recently, Senior Minister Tissa Vitarana confirmed to the media that, when asked why he had appointed Bandaranayake J’s husband as Chairman, N.S.B., the President had replied that it was at the request of Bandaranayake J.

Within a few months, the independence and integrity of this 43^rd  Chief Justice, which seemed to have been blunted by the 42^nd Chief Justice, proved irksome to the President for well  known reasons. He would have none of this nonsense. She had to be impeached!

117 of the President’s minions in Parliament signed a document which purported to be a resolution for the impeachment of the Chief Justice. It certainly did not contain “full particulars of the alleged misbehaviour”, as specifically required by the proviso to Article 107(2) of the Constitution. However, it was accepted by the Speaker on 1^st November 2012 and placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 6^th November. A Select Committee of 7 “Super Geniuses” from the Government and 4 MPs from the Opposition was appointed on 14^th November, in terms of Standing Order 78A. A sham of an inquiry commenced on 23^rd November. The conduct of the 7 super geniuses was such that the 43^rd Chief Justice withdrew on the 6^th December at 6.30 p.m. and the Opposition MPs withdrew at 5.30 p.m. on 7^th December 2012. These 7 Super Geniuses thereafter summoned 18 witnesses, recorded the evidence of 16 who answered the urgent summons, evaluated the evidence, weighed it against reported judgments, wrote a learned judgment holding the CJ guilty of 3 charges and exonerating her from the other 11 charges, and compiled a report of more than 1500 pages, before 7.30 a.m. – all within the space of 14 hours. Such efficiency will surely find its place in the Guiness Book of Records, in due course!

The Supreme Court entertained a reference by the Court of Appeal on 22^nd  November, 2012 and made a determination on 1^st January 2013 that Standing Order 78A was ultra vires the Constitution, in that it could  not empower these Super Geniuses to arrive at any finding of guilt. On the 7^th January 2013, the Court of Appeal quashed the purported finding of guilt by these Super Geniuses.

Undaunted, these Super Geniuses succeeded in prevailing on 148 other geniuses in Parliament to disregard with contempt the rulings of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and resolve that the President  should be humbly requested  to authorise the crucifixion of the Chief Justice.

In obedience to the dictates of his “Conscience” the President authorised the unlawful eviction of the incumbent Chief Justice. Soon thereafter he purported to “swear-in” the once discarded candidate, to the non-existent vacancy in the position of Chief Justice. It is widely known that this appointee had an unparalleled (and much sought after, in today’s context) reputation for blatant corruption since retiring from the public service as Senior State Counsel. The Government MPs and the State Media vociferously claim to have acquired an amazing, and amusing, capability of authoritatively interpreting Constitutional provisions, hitherto assigned by the written Constitution, solely and exclusively to the Supreme Court. The Government’s minions amongst the “vigilant” public and the numerous fawning Counsellors of the President have acted swiftly in an attempt to clothe this vile and unlawful deed with legal validity.

To avoid the inevitable blatant victimisation of many law-abiding persons, the Chief Justice has acted with remarkable wisdom. She has however, rightly stated that she is the one and only lawful Chief Justice. Sooner rather than later, it will be revealed that she was betrayed by more than one Judas, by the subsequent conduct of such Judases.

It is the fervent hope of all “law-abiding” Sri Lankans that she, the braveheart who dared to stand up against anarchy, will be restored to her rightful position of Chief Justice, sooner rather than later, to serve this country as Chief Justice, long before she reaches the age of retirement in 2023.

Long live Madam Justitia!

*Elmore Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Founder CIMOGG, Past President OPA