Sri Lankans protest ruling against chief justice

Published on Dec 10, 2012

Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake gestures as she walks from The Supreme Court in Colombo on December 4, 2012. The top judge faces an attempt by the government to impeach her on charges of financial and professional misconduct which she has vehemently denied.--PHOTO: AFP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Hundreds of Sri Lankans protested on Monday against a parliamentary committee's ruling that the country's chief justice is unfit to hold office because of unexplained wealth and misuse of power.

Opposition lawmakers, lawyers and rights activists joined the protest in the capital, Colombo, demanding that the government halt an impeachment process against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

The committee announced on Saturday that after investigating five of the 14 charges against Ms Bandaranayake, it found she was guilty of three of them. Ms Bandaranayake has denied all the allegations.

The ruling came after Ms Bandaranayake and four opposition members of the committee walked out of the hearing, saying they had no faith in the fairness of the process.

Sri Lankans protest ruling against chief justice

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