Pakistan CJ disowns letter over Lankan CJ removal

15 February 2013 06:47 am

Two Vice Presidents of International Council of Jurists (ICJ) and Pakistan’s Chief Justice have contradicted the letter issued to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by Council President Dr. Adish C. Agrawal approving the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and expressing support to new CJ Mohan Peiris.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry gave wide publicity to this letter with the names of the vice presidents of the ICJ.

Two British jurists who were cited as vice presidents of the ICJ protested against statement to the President Rajapaksa and claimed they were not aware about the letter to Sri Lanka on the controversial impeachment. This statement has led Justice Gavin to resign from the Council which had issued the controversial statement.  

Two weeks ago, writing to the Sri Lankan President, International Council of Jurists (ICJ) President, Dr. Adish C. Agrawal justified the impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake and approved the procedure followed.

Mr. Agrawal who is also the President of the All India Bar Association had written to President Rajapaksa, “We take this opportunity to assure that the Sri Lankan Government has not committed wrong in removing Chief Justice Ms. Shirani Bandaranayake as the removal proceedings were absolutely in accordance with the prevalent Sri Lankan laws.”

Responding to situation one of the vice presidents and a British Jurist, Sir Justice Gavin Lightman told  Daily Mirror “I was never consulted on the statement issued by Mr. Agrawal purportedly on behalf of the (Indian) International Council of Jurists on the topic of the impeachment of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. If I had been consulted, I would have strongly objected.”  

 Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has also disassociated himself from the ICJ statement on the impeachment of Dr.  Bandaranayake.

“It is clarified that no support has ever been extended by Chief Justice of Pakistan to the decision of removing the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake,” a statement issued by the Pakistan’s Supreme Court said.

“It was not its role to issue public statements on controversial topics such as the impeachment of the chief justice without the agreement of its officers and in particular its international vice presidents,” British High Court judge Justice Gavin said in an exclusive interview.  

Informing his resignation from the Council over the controversial letter sent to Sri Lankan President over the impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice Gavin has written to Mr. Agrawal expressing his protest and his decision to disassociate himself from the Council’s move.

Meanwhile, another vice president and British jurist, Lord Baron Navnit Dholakia whose name was mentioned as a vice president in the ICJ website, told the Daily Mirror that he had no connection to the said letter and in fact he had disassociated himself from the Council sometime ago.(Susitha R. Fernando )