• Argues that if CJ provided requested info, rejection may not have happened 

Following its rejection of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s nomination of Court of Appeal (CA) President Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne as a Supreme Court (SC) justice, sources within the Constitutional Council (CC) stated that it was not done with the intention of going against the President. 

The CC had last week declined the recommendation made by President Wickremesinghe to promote Karunaratne as an SC justice. The CC’s decision has led to reports of a conflict between it and the President. 

When contacted by The Daily Morning, a member of the CC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they had declined the President’s nomination, but it was not done with the intention of going against him (the President). 

“Last week, the President had made two nominations for the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and we approved them. When Deshabandu Tennakoon was nominated as the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), we approved it too. Just because we rejected one nomination, it does not mean that there is a conflict between the President and CC,” the CC member stressed. 

He added that the situation with regard to Karunaratne’s promotion had arisen as a result of Chief Justice (CJ) President's Counsel (PC) Jayantha Jayasuriya refusing to provide the CC with information pertaining to upper court justices’ performances. “The CC had requested the CJ to provide information regarding CA and SC justices, but he had informed that he was not in possession of such information, so he could not provide such. If he had provided us with that information, this situation would not have arisen,” the CC member argued. 

CC Chairman and Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana had informed the CJ in November 2023 that information on upper court justices’ performance was necessary for the CC when approving the appointment of SC justices, and the President and justices of the CA whenever such nominations were referred to the CC by the President. However, the CJ had informed the CC that there was no possibility of providing such information.