SUNIL JAYASIRI 
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Video: Yapa defends PSC; refuses request for ind. Comm.
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Denying a request by the leftist parties to appoint an independent committee to look into the charges against the Chief Justice, Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, the chairman of the now defunct PSC said that that would not be within the provisions of the Constitution.
“Our duties are set out clearly in the Constitution and the standing orders. We have been given a task under our Constitution and our standing orders.
So other requests are not my concern. I was given a certain task as the chairman of the PSC and I performed it according to the present provisions of the Constitution and the standing orders” he said.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Mr. Yapa who was with former foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama did not shy away from a barrage of questions by journalists, and insisted that the entire process was transparent and had dealt fairly with the Chief Justice.
When asked whether the minister had not realised that there would be a conflict of interest when the husband of the Chief Justice was appointed chairman of the NSB, Mr.Yapa said he had not seen a conflict of interest at the time.
“I don’t agree with your view, people can have positions but they have to be careful. No, I didn’t see a conflict of interest” he said.
Defending criticisms of the PSC for not providing the CJ and the Opposotion members in the PSC with a list of witnesses and documents to be produced, he said that the government members had called the witnesses after both parties had walked out. He said the only reason the witnesses were called was to authenticate the documents.
Responding to allegations of insults hurled against the Chief Justice, as alleged by both the opposition members and the lawyers of the Chief Justice, Yapa said that the recordings would prove otherwise.
When Daily Mirror asked the minister why the government was adamant about continuing with a process that had been described biased and not within the framework of the principles of natural justice, Yapa asked on what basis these allegations were made.
Responding to another question Yapa said the government members took part in the proceedings with an open mind.
When it was pointed out that a sitting minister had publicly condemned the conduct of the Chief Justice prior to the proceedings and this contradicted the assertion that the committee had an open mind, the minister said that he as chairman always tried to keep to the middle ground.
When questioned as to the impending constitutional deadlock, in the event the Supreme Court finds that the standing orders are not legal and therefore renders the PSC a nullity, Yapa said, “I can’t explain this in two words and I have to give you a long drawn out explanation. We have to work within our boundaries, in every country where you have a parliamentary procedure, the courts and other organs always respect parliament.” ( By Hafeel Farisz)
Pix by Pradeep Pathirana
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