Lanka SC reverses lower court verdict on woman CJ's sacking

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court today reversed a lower court's verdict that parliament's decision to impeach the country's first woman Chief Justice was illegal.
A five-judge bench quashed the Court of Appeals order which ruled that the decision of the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka was illegal.
The Apex Court held that the Court of Appeals had no jurisdiction to annul a parliamentary right.
The bench noted that the PSC was an organ of the parliament and therefore the Court of Appeals writ jurisdiction did not extend to it.
The Court of Appeals in December of 2012 held that the PSC decision to impeach Bandaranayaka was illegal.

Parliament in January, 2013, went ahead with the sacking process despite the order of the Court of Appeals.

Bandaranayaka was the first ever woman Chief Justice in the country's history.
She faced charges of financial impropriety which she claimed were politically motivated.
Sri Lankan government faced international condemnation for her sacking.