COLOMBO, Jan 3: The Sri Lankan Supreme Court has said the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is unconstitutional and null and void, because the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which conducted the impeachment, did not have the requisite “judicial powers”.Parliament’s Standing Order 78(A), under which the committee was set up, is not the law of the land, according to the apex court. Parliament’s Standing Orders are only a set of rules to conduct the proceedings of the house and to protect its privileges. They confer no power to deliver judgments on other matters, the court has pointed out.In its `determination’ submitted to the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court said that if a CJ or a superior judge were to be impeached, parliament would have to appoint a committee or an entity endowed with “judicial authority”. If this was not done, the authority of the entire judiciary would be threatened, the ruling said.

“What the Supreme Court has said is that Lanka does not have a law for the purpose of impeachment and so, the impeachment of CJ Bandaranayake carried by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) set up under Standing Order 78(A), is unconstitutional, and therefore, null and void,” commented senior lawyer J.C. Weliamuna.

The Court of Appeal had earlier sent the matter to the apex court to get a constitutional assessment of the legality of the CJ’s impeachment by the PSC. The SC’s determination was read out in the Court of Appeal on Thursday, when the latter took up two petitions filed by Ms Bandaranayake challenging the impeachment proceedings against her.

On Dec 8, Lanka’s first female CJ, Ms Bandaranayake, was found guilty by the PSC on three counts of “misbehaviour”. These were basically about lapses in financial transactions and conflict of interest.