SC stops proceedings against top judge

Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal yesterday halted a parliamentary committee's impeachment proceedings against the country's first woman chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake, who had sought a writ order to declare the findings of the panel illegal.
The Appeal Court noticed the parliament speaker and parliamentary select committee members to appear before it on January 3 and asked them not to act in derogation of the chief justice until the court concludes its hearings.
The hearing was with regard to a plaint filed by Bandaranayake on December 19 seeking an order to quash the findings of the committee, which probed impeachment charges against her.
The parliamentary committee on December 8 ruled that Bandaranayake was guilty of three of the 14 charges in the impeachment proceedings against her moved by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition legislators.
The three charges were financial impropriety based on non declaration of assets and conflict of interest in a case involving a failed investment company.
The 54-year-old chief justice denied all the charges against her.
The court ruling on Friday has added a new dimension to the impeachment issue as parliament claiming its supremacy over judiciary had ignored previous notices issued by the court.