COLOMBO (REUTERS) - Sri Lanka's parliament voted to impeach the country's chief justice on Friday, disregarding rulings from the Supreme Court that the process was illegal and threatened judicial independence.

The parliament, dominated by a coalition headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa's party, impeached Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka's first female chief justice, with 155 votes in favour, above the simple majority in the 225-member legislature.