Justice K Sripavan takes oaths as Chief Justice
Sri Lanka's new president Maithripala Sirisena has appointed Judge Kanagasabapathy Sripavan, 62 as the new chief Justice of the highest court of the land. "Justice Sripavan was sworn in before President Sirisena," the presidential secretariat said in a statement on Friday, .
Mr Sripavan is the first Tamil to be appointed to the top position since 1991.
The move comes two days after the president declared illegal the 2013 impeachment of former chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
Ms Bandaranayake had been sacked by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa over corruption claims - a move widely criticised by the Bar (Lawyers) Association of Sri Lanka international community and human rights groups.
Ms Bandaranayake, who has always denied corruption claims, returned to the post on Wednesday - only to retire a day later once her name had been cleared. At a ceremony held to declare her retirement she said that though she has nine more years to serve as the Cj she decided to retire in order to preserve the dignity of the judiciary in the country. During her impeachment several senior lawyers who practice in the highest court backed her against the govt's move to impeach her.
