Colombo: Parties represented in Sri Lankan Parliament were on Wednesday asked to name their representatives in a select committee that would initiate an impeachment motion against the country's Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
"Letters have been sent to parties to send in their names to Hon Speaker by November 10," deputy speaker Chandima Weerakkody said today.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa yesterday placed the motion on the parliamentary order book which is the first step in the process. Some 117 government MPs had signed the motion which seeks the removal of 54-year-old Bandaranayake over 14 charges of misconduct.
The move was the culmination of months of a stand off between the country's executive and the judiciary.
The judiciary cited interference on its independence while the government denied the charge.
The Supreme Court ruling on the unconstitutionality of several key government bills had angered the government to move against Bandaranayake, the island nation's first woman head of the judiciary.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2012, 21:40