The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has strongly criticized the government’s efforts to undermine the Supreme Court’s interim order on the appointment of Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon.
Issuing a statement, the BASL said that neither the President nor the Prime Minister has any authority to override the decisions of the Supreme Court. “The decisions of the Supreme Court cannot be overruled by any other forum; neither the Prime Minister nor the Speaker has any authority to override the decisions of the Courts,” the statement said.
The statement comes after the Government on Friday appeared to reject the Supreme Court order, with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena making a special statement in Parliament.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an interim order preventing Deshabandu Tennakoon from performing duties and functioning as the IGP. The order was issued after granting leave to proceed with the nine petitions filed by several parties, including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, challenging Tennakoon’s appointment as the IGP.
“The claim that the Supreme Court does not have power to call into question appointments made by the President, which are approved by the Constitutional Council, is, in the view of the BASL, totally untenable. The decisions of the Constitutional Council are clearly amenable to the Fundamental Rights Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (as per Article 41J of the Constitution),” the BASL said.
The Government’s failure to honour the decisions of the courts of the land will result in a loss of public confidence in the administration of justice and will seriously imperil democracy, the BASL warned. (Newswire)
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