(Mirror) - Justice K Sripavan has withdrawn from the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court that is to take up the petition regarding the removal of former CJ Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and a FR petition against the appointment of President’s Counsel Mohan Peiris as Chief Justice.
Accordingly, the appointment of a new judge bench for the above petitions will take another a week, reports say.
The Supreme Court Judge bench which comprised 11 judges was reduced to 10 following the retirement of Justice S.I. Imam.
Though the bench also includes Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, he is named as a respondent in the above cases, and therefore cannot appear on the bench when the cases are taken up.
Therefore, the attendance of all the remaining SC judges is needed to form the full nine member bench.
Since the withdrawal of Justice Sripavan, the full bench can be restored after only after an appointment is made to fill the position vacated after Justice S.I. Imam’s retirement, sources from the Supreme Court say.
(Neth FM)
