Thillekeratne’s appointment as JSC Secy. violated Constitution, says Minister Peiris

Saturday, 27 October 2012

The appointment of Manjula Thillkaratne, as the Secretary to the Judicial Services Commission, was done in violation of the Constitution, External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris said in Parliament yesterday.

"The person appointed was 30th on the seniority list. What is his special qualification to hold the post?" the Minister said, during an adjournment debate in Parliament.

Minister Peiris, who tabled the seniority list during the course of his speech, said that according to the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, the most senior Judge of the Courts of first instance should be appointed the JSC Secretary. "Most of the problems that have cropped up around the judiciary have come about after this appointment," Prof. Peiris said.

"It is an invitation to disaster, if a junior official is appointed to manage and control senior officials," the Minister said.

He cited instances where the JSC Secretary had intervened to prevent a female Magistrate from lodging a police complaint saying that such complaints should first be brought to the notice of the JSC.

UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella, who spoke after Minister Peiris, asked why the government had remained silent about the appointment of the JSC Secretary until then.