Athapattu Bandara-ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Courtesy The Daily News

Explaining the importance of following the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s prevailing law and the constitution, Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) head Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, probing charges against Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayake said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-everybody should work within their limitations and nobody can work beyond their limitationsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Judges should secure peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s confidence to the maximum in every country.

We have instances where judges lost peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s faith after which, when they returned, they suffered with adverse circumstances,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the minister told a press briefing on Wednesday.

The Chief Judge of the Philippines was removed a month ago as she failed to disclose her foreign assets and liabilities. A House of representative in America was removed recently when he was found guilty of partaking a meal offered by a Law Association and had personal financial dealings with them, Yapa said.

The decorum of supreme posts of the Judiciary should be protected by judges, he said.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Nobody can work against the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s constitution. Though many speak about the Lattice House System and other methodologies, the Sri Lankan constitution has provisions only with the ongoing procedure,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the minister said.

He said in the Sri Lankan constitution, disciplinary action can be taken against the President, the Chief Justice and judges of the Court of Appeal only through Parliament.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The one and only mechanism in dealing with such situations constitutionally is by bringing an impeachment motion in Parliament,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he said.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Many speak about a Lattice House System with which charges should be probed against the Chief Justice. That is not constitutional in Sri Lanka. We should comply with Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s constitution and law,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the minister said.

An impeachment motion through the PSC is the only way of probing charges against a Chief Justice, he said.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-According to PSC standing orders, only one representative along with the Chief Justice was allowed to appear before the PSC proceedings. But we allowed the Chief JusticeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s lawyers of Neelakandan and Neelakandan Law Association, PC Nalin Ladduwahetty, attorney – at – law Saliya Peiris and PC Romesh de Silva. The Chief JusticeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s lawyers were contended with the PSC proceedings at the outset and nowhere did they comment that the Chief Justice was verbally abused or about the misbehavior of other members of the PSC,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Yapa said.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We did not have any discussions with the Chief Justice. Her representative, Romesh de Silva answered the questions. All dialogues have been recorded and printed. Verbatim scripts will be the best answer to verify if any PSC member addressed the Chief Justice in an inappropriate manner,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he said.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Nobody in the PSC abused her as accused by her lawyers,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the minister said.

Asked whether the minister would agree with the PSC proceedings, Yapa said the PSC proceedings were compatible with the constitution and all inquiries were transparent and impartial.

The minister said the government has no fear regarding the proceedings of the Chief JusticeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s impeachment motion.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The government worked with the available legal provisions and has taken all steps in accordance with the constitution. The work carried out so far was constitutional and nobody can say this was unconstitutional,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he said.

In countries where the government is run through a parliamentary system, the legal procedure and all work come under the umbrella of the Parliament, he said.