සරත් එන්. සිල්වා මහතා අධිකරණය කෙරෙහි ඇති කර තිබෙන විනාශය සුළුපටු නැත
As impeachment proceedings open, Ivan traces the crisis to Sarath N. Silva’s appointment while two disbarment complaints, one by Ivan himself, were pending, despite warnings from Chief Justice G.P.S. de Silva and senior lawyers. He recounts how Silva halted those inquiries, packed the bench hearing challenges to his appointment, narrowed fundamental rights jurisdiction, and was linked by phone records to Rohana Kumara, alleged mastermind of the Wijekoon murder, and to a fraudulent petition for the gunman Nupul Kumara.
උසස් තනතුරුවලට පුද්ගලයන් පත් කිරීම
The Sarath N. Silva crisis shows the need for a system that prevents unsuitable appointments to posts such as Chief Justice. The editorial contrasts US Senate scrutiny of judicial nominees and South Africa’s constitutional body that shortlists three names, says the President appointed a man about to be disbarred in order to control the courts, and calls for his removal and for the proposed independent judicial commission to be enacted.
සරත් සිල්වා රගපාමින් සිටින්නේ ද ලෙනින් රත්නායක රග පෑ භූමිකාව ම ය
Ivan retells how magistrate Lenin Ratnayake, dismissed earlier from the Insurance Corporation for fraud, hid his past behind a pious image, won support from monks, lawyers, local councils and Attorney General Sarath N. Silva, and was finally found guilty by the Hector Yapa inquiry. He argues that Chief Justice Silva is staging the same performance through bodhi pujas, Bar resolutions and a Malwatte statement, and sets out allegations about Silva’s private life, misuse of power in related litigation and a loan he never repaid.
දෝෂාභියෝගයක්
With an impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Ivan recalls the only earlier one under the 1978 Constitution, against Neville Samarakoon. He recounts Samarakoon’s career and clashes with Jayewardene’s government: the reconstituted Supreme Court, the Kalawana seat, the referendum amendment, the Ratanasara and Vivienne Goonewardene cases and mobs outside judges’ homes, and his 1984 speech that led to a select committee and impeachment committee. The contrast with today shows how far politics has declined.
අධිකරණයේ අර්බුදය ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය
Ivan argues that an independent judiciary must protect citizens, not the government, when popular sovereignty is threatened, citing Kuldip Singh’s court under Indira Gandhi. Under Sarath N. Silva the Supreme Court has become the executive’s tool: he packed the bench on the electoral bill, blocked Karu Jayasuriya’s media petitions, reversed the growth of fundamental rights jurisprudence by assigning cases to himself, and dismissed over twenty judicial officers. No reform or ethnic settlement is possible until this is remedied.
නීතීඥ සංගමයට ප්රශ්න 6ක්
After lawyers Neil Dias, Chandrapala Kumarage and Sena Liyanasuriya urged the Bar Association to act against Ravaya, Ivan recounts how inquiries upheld Ravaya’s charges against Lenin Ratnayake and Upali Abeyratne and poses six questions: on Sarath N. Silva’s domestic life and judicial ethics, his appointment while disbarment petitions were pending, Abeyratne’s promotion, the trust land obtained while on the Vijaya Kumaratunga commission, his continuing trusteeship, and his ties to Rohana Kumara, a suspect in the Wijekoon murder.
මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයාගේ වගකීම
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Central Provincial Council poll in Ududumbara, Pathadumbara, Hewaheta and Galagedara was grossly corrupt and that the Elections Commissioner violated petitioners’ rights by not cancelling voting at all 23 polling stations, whatever obstruction he faced. The editorial applies the Court’s words, that the law wants a real election, not a sham, to the presidential poll’s alleged forged ballots, on which the Commissioner remains silent.
The politics of justice
Two important observations on the Sri Lankan judiciary were published last week. One is in the latest American human rights report, which says the Chief Justice has cut the number of human rights cases the courts examine on the pretext of preventing a backlog — denying redress even to people who have been tortured.
අධිකරණයේ දේශපාලනය
Taking up newly appointed Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran’s remark that promotions depend on executive favour, Ivan argues that the executive has captured the judiciary. He lists cases in which the Chief Justice sat on politically sensitive petitions and ruled for the government: Karu Jayasuriya’s election-time petitions against Lake House and ITN, the 17th Amendment hearing, appointments cases, a GMOA doctor’s petition, railway strike-breaking, and a Vavuniya torture victim awarded only Rs. 15,000.
ජනාධිපති ඡන්ද පෙත්සම ඉවත් කරගැනීම
The UNP has withdrawn its petition against Kumaratunga’s election, citing, through deputy leader Gamini Atukorale, Supreme Court rulings that limited evidence and demanded proof that it lost 1,230,258 votes to malpractice. Ivan shows by arithmetic that far fewer votes would have changed the result, or forced a second count since she cleared 50 per cent by only 5,489 votes, and urges the Elections Commissioner to investigate allegations of forged ballot papers.