An analysis by lawyer Chandrasiri Seneviratne
(Lanka-e-News -12.June.2016, 5.20PM) During the past weekend , all the media were publishing many reports that were derogatory and disdainful of the courts . Sadly this was not because of the actions of outsiders but shockingly owing to two judges Thilina Gamage and Kanishka Wijeratne who are unfortunately intimate and integral parts of the very judiciary they represent .One of the weekend news reports described Thilina as an absconding judge and Kanishka as a bosom pal of his. Such reports of the misconduct and unprofessional behavior of judges are most vilifying and insolent of the courts ,and dents the dignity of the judiciary.
The outcome of these vilifications and insults however do not go to disgrace the ancestry indicated in the birth certificates of the judges involved , rather it only undermines and erodes the confidence and faith the public repose in the judiciary. The misconduct of the afore-noted judges has deprived the people of the only opportunity they had to control their anger by claiming ‘ okay we shall look after that in the courts.’ That is we have recourse to the courts.
It is unfortunate that the days when a judge himself heard the case after forcibly raping the young wife who came to get bail for her rascal of a husband , are still not bygones though it is our hope that period is a thing of the past. In other words ,after the court orders ‘silence’ those who are gracing the bench are judges like Thilina Gamages , Kanishka Wejeratnes following Lenin Ratnayakes , and Gihan Plapitiyas.
Gihan Pilapitiya recently gave a new deplorable dimension to court in relation to a letter sent by a Mahanayake requesting the controversial robbed elephant calf to be returned to the suspects .That order not only created a stir among the media but also the general public. That order was akin to an instance in which , because the kasippu that was seized by the Police were distilled for a wedding house purpose , the illicit liquor barrels seized from the Kasippu den shall be handed over back to the kasippu dealers merely based on the letter received.
An order given by a judge being challenged by a superior court is lawful , because it is based on legal validity .Accordingly the Colombo High court judge Manilal Waidyatileke could have temporarily suspended the verdict of Pilapitiya.
Based on those lines ,though the order given by Pilapitiya pertaining to Thilina Gamage was vetoed by the latter , he should have in fact heeded it .Thilina did not care two hoots for the order delivered by Pilapitiya . The order given by the latter on the 12 th of May was to record the statements of the four suspects including Thilina Gamage , and produce them in court.
Accordingly , the Attorney General ‘s department notified Thilina on 13th May to visit the CID and give a statement. What the CID issued to Thilina was a court order. Thilina after saying he would comply , later informed the CID through a lawyer that he is unable to come , but vowed that he would arrive on the 18 th of May based on the court order and make his statement.Yet Thilina did not arrive at the CID to record his statement on the 18 th. What did Thilina inform on the 18 th? He informed he would arrive on the 25 th and record his statement .On that day too he kept away. Thereafter he went missing from his home . Through all these incidents what is Thilina Gamage conveying ?
Thilina Gamage who unheeded the hallowed court orders and acted in this undignified manner is after all a judge and not a heroin addict ; he is not a gold necklace snatcher like Kalutara Rathharan who after boarding moving trains snatches chains ; neither is he a drunkard or a vagrant who wastes his time in public places. On the contrary he is a judge who hears cases against such scoundrels, rascals , crooks and culprits . Therefore he ought to respect the bench , protect the laws , uphold the lofty ideals of the judiciary and safeguard the implicit confidence and faith the public are reposing in the judiciary . Yet wasn’t he the same so called judge Thilina Gamage who since 12 th of May misbehaved and acted most unlawfully even worse than a drug addict, chain snatcher and a criminal thereby disparaging and disgracing the judiciary on a scale unprecedented in SL? Sadly , Kaniska Wijeratne who was an accomplice in this is also a judge .
The people of the country who are keenly watching these events are questioning on what grounds the Judicial service commission (JSC) as administrators of judges is going to respond .. What is the JSC going to do in regard to these judges? As far as we know , the General Treasury is continuing to pay the salaries to judge Thilina , Anusha Pelpita and Ranawake who are disdaining , despising and disgracing the judiciary beyond measure.
Let us retrace history for a moment. During the Mahinda Rajapakse era and before , judges like Lenin Ratnayake abused their powers and committed rape on wives who came to get bail for their criminal husbands .
What is the message these judges are now conveying to the world ? Is it , the courts of SL which are represented by judges like Thilina and Kanishka are not independent enough to hear even kassipu (llicit liquor ) cases let alone war crimes ?
When judges who should hear cases ,safeguard the laws and legal Institutions misbehave like this , what the JSC does is , even without hearing the case , the culprits are summoned and after telling them not to disgrace the judiciary , ordered to resign. Happily , under the good governance at least that does not seem to be taking place.
When recommending judges of the appeal court to the Supreme court , a judge (female) with high seniority was not named. Charges were mounted against various commissions in this regard, which implied that the SL judiciary has not been able to extricate itself from the Rajapakse administration shadow. The good governance may be thriving in certain areas , but as regards the judiciary it is wanting in independence . The SL judiciary has not reached a unique status that it should.
When charges are mounted against a judge for keeping captive an elephant illegally , it is now apparent that judge does not try to legally clear himself of the charges safeguarding the dignity of his profession and the court .Instead he tries to evade and circumvent the laws like any other criminal.
By that it is the independence and the unique status of the judiciary that is placed in jeopardy. On the other hand , the other lawyers’ associations remaining tongue tied in the midst of such misconduct and the disgrace brought upon the judiciary is most reprehensible and portends grave danger and disaster. We must admire the Bar Association of SL (BASL) for making loud announcements in this connection. In the end, unfortunately the current minister of justice is a president’s counsel , and was the president of the BASL some time ago. In any event as he is noted for openly rescuing the corrupt, his show of commitment towards rescuing the judiciary is a pretense
During the period when the issue pertaining to Shiranee Bandaranaike ex chief justice surfaced , the president of BASL was Wijedasa Raajapakse. He could muster the support of the lawyers to stage protests only with immense difficulties like taking a dog for bathing forcibly. Wijedasa had to face the BASL elections immediately after the ex CJ’s issue blew up, and he found an escape route by running away without a second term . Why ? surely, it could not be because of the fear of Rajapakses.
Wijedasa who did not stand by the judiciary then is today the minister of justice . It is a pity he is not duly shouldering his responsibilities .This reminds us at this juncture it was lawyer Upul Jayausuriya who took over from Wijedasa as the president of the BASL.
He made the BASL to act with full force on the issue of Shiranee Bandaranaike.By his not inviting the CJ appointed by Rajapakse to his inauguration ceremony he acted in breach of traditions. In other words in the gunny bag of the BASL are robbed, spoilt and decomposed coconuts .
Late R. Premadasa appointed Vincent Perera as the minister of justice. By profession he was a notary clerk . Even during the time when Vincent Perera a notary clerk was appointed as the minister of justice the judiciary did not descend to this sordid level . When comparing with the present situation Wijedasa is not shouldering his responsibilities duly and is guilty of neglect of his duties. He claimed that he is appearing on behalf of the ex AG, but he has no qualms about not standing by the judiciary
Although Wijedasa abandoned his post of BASL president amidst ex CJ Bandaranaike’s issue, it seems he will never ever give up his ministerial portfolio . That is for sure and reasons are obvious.
By now the BASL has already been brought to the attention of the JSC. The justice minister who is in a deep slumber must wake up at least now and articulate his stance . The law abiding people of the country who fear about the courts are naturally entertaining that opinion regarding the ‘Rip Van Winkle’ justice minister .
The JSC being run under the judicial service administration needs scrupulous attention. During one era the media treated the JSC as a court. On no occasion did the media publish a report then against the JSC. But now solely and wholly because of Thilina Gamage it is not unsurprising if they treat JSC as a deal hub .
With the unfolding of the aforementioned events , by now a complaint has been lodged with the JSC against the conduct of the Gangodawila magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne . The lawyers furiously questioned the impartiality of Kanishka . The latter by hearing the case of Thilina until after dusk has already demeaned the courts and insulted the professional dignity .
There are a number of court actions relating to illegal custody of elephants , and the suspects in many of them were remanded . They were remanded under the public property Act . Not a single suspect who was arrested under the Public property Act , had been granted bail directly by the magistrate court. What a magistrate court can do in such cases is , say it cannot grant bail because it comes under the public Property Act. Or else it can under special grounds confirm its order . As regards Thilina Gamage , he first sought relief from the supreme court (SC) .There it was declared he is not innocent .
Hence , Kanishka granting bail to Thilina is a contempt committed on the SC. It was also reported that Thilina was released without the cash bail ordered being paid.
Late Dr.Colvin R De Silva who analyzed the Public Property laws said , since a box of matches that causes a shop to catch fire is considered as a public property, bail cannot be granted. Because the price of a single elephant calf is more than Rs. 2.5 million , it should therefore not be difficult to asses the gravity of the charges .. But how did the courts that remanded some elephant rogues , treat elephant rogues like Thilina Gamage and Uduwe Dhammaloka ?
How did the courts treat suspects Lalith Weeratunge and Anusha Pelpita who were involved in the multi million rupees fraud relating to Sil cloths? Is there anything more disgraceful than this remaining that can happen to our judiciary ? Those happened not due to the judges but owing to the AG’s department. The AG’s department conducted itself in that deplorable and despicable manner because they know the minister of justice Wijedasa stands by them.
It is not necessary to recall all the incidents during the last 20 years in respect of the judiciary and the State administration .One incident however comes to memory - the attack launched on the residences of judges by late J.R. Jayawardena . Even though the rulers in the past acted that way , the judges of that time did not behave in this shameful way like the present judges.
Before I conclude this article may I cite an incident that took place in a court …
Judge Yapa
Q
Did the bag containing excreta hurled at the magistrate hit him?
A
It hit. It straight struck the face . What was aimedat the judge the second time hit the fan ( the unending struggle – Victor Ivan pages 157 -158)
The excreta that was hurled at judge Lenin Ratnayake struck the fan , and as a result the whole court was turned filthy .It was the accused Chandana Pushpa Ruwan who was in the dock at that moment who hurled the excreta in the court . But today who is hurling excreta from the bench ?
If the CJ , the JSC or the justice minister are not acting duly , at least the president must move in this matter – in this dire situation fraught with grave danger .Under the good governance , surely the courts need not become an excreta heap .If nothing is done , the people will only have to conclude the good governance cannot be awakened from its deep slumber
Translated by Jeff.
---------------------------
by (2016-06-12 12:01:14)
Read 55848 Times
Leave a Reply
1 discussion on this news
Well said Lanka News.We appreciate all your narratives.Disgraceful conduct of all concerned including the so called MOJ.
-- by Gratiaen Hewa on 2016-06-12
