The fear instilled in the minor judiciary continues to reverberate with judges wanting to curry favour with the senior judges of the Justice Services Commission. Several changes are proposed to the commission officials itself with a person close to the Director General of Bribery tipped to be appointed to the Commission as an high official after Justice Surasena is appointed as the Chief justice.
This will give a strong grip of the commission activity in the hands of Justice Surasena and the lower judiciary can then be manipulated at the will and beckoning of the commission. The strong traditions and ethics of the bench and judiciary are fast fading away. Conflict of interest seem to have been thrown to the dustbin by the Justice Surasena led judiciary.
The inquiry against police chief Thennakone is an classic example. Justice Surasena who heads a panel of inquiry against Thennakone also sits in judgement against him in the Surpreme Court. Dilipa Perera who is the AGs department official in the inquiry is also prosecuting the Police Chief in Weligama Courts.
While the legal fraternity hoped that Justice Surasena would pointout this fact to Dilipa Perera and gave him removed from the inquiry, what really happened as the opposite where both got together to gang up against Thennakone.
The only siver lining was the judgement of Justice Kodagoda who gave a learned and well considered judgement against remanding people unnecessarily. The junior judges seem to have taken confidence from this judgement of Justice Kodagoda to give bail to persons who are brought before them dealing a blow to the plans of the governments aim to terrorise its political opponents. The judges of the lower judiciary are waiting with baited breath to see who will succeed to the high post of Chief Justice in the coming weeks. Who will free the justice system will be key to this government’s and country’s future.
