Bar to give CJ44 the cold shoulder

The ongoing controversy and demand for Chief Justice 44, Mohan Peiris to resign ,took another turn as the Attorney General’s Department informed the Chief Justice not to attend today’s grand ceremony to mark the 130th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Attorney General’s Department.

The AG’s decision came following Saturday’s Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Executive Council resolution, the Daily Mirror reliably learns. At the meeting the BASL Ex-Co has decided to walk out if CJ Peiris attended the ceremony. BASL head Upul Jayasuriya told the Daily Mirror, that at Saturday’s meeting they had decided to walk out from the BMICH venue as a mark of protest if Mr. Peiris was seen there. “This decision has already been  conveyed to Attorney General Yuvanjana Wijeyetilleke,” Mr. Jayasuriya said.


“Symbolically I will go there but if Mohan Peiris attends the function I will have to walk out. Likewise several senior President’s Counsel have informed the Bar that they would do so,” Mr. Jayasuirya said.


Mr. Jayasuriya said he had conveyed the decision to the AG and in turn the AG had conveyed about its decision to the CJ indicating that he should not come there. The BASL has repeatedly urged CJ Peiris to resign from his position and stated it has ‘lost confidence in the credibility of the CJ to continue to function in that position’. (Susitha R. Fernando)