| by Amal Jayasinghe
AFP
( December 8, 2012, Colombo, Sri
Lanka Guardian) A report submitted to Sri Lanka's parliament on Saturday is
widely expected to call for the impeachment of the country's top judge over
allegations of professional misconduct, an official source said.
The probe has raised
international concerns that Sri Lanka's regime is trying to control the
judiciary after crushing Tamil rebels in 2009 and consolidating its hold on
power.
Environment Minister Anura Yapa,
who headed the select committee that tried Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake
- Sri Lanka's first woman top judge - tabled the report in parliament but
stopped short of revealing its findings.
"We have examined 16
witnesses and arrived at our conclusion," Yapa told parliament, which is
constitutionally required to hold a vote in one month to decide Bandaranayak's
final fate.
A parliamentary official, who
declined to be named, said the panel had found Bandaranayake guilty of at least
two of 14 charges of financial and professional misconduct levelled by the
ruling United People's Freedom Alliance.
"We understand the panel
accepted some of the explanations of the chief justice, but she has also been
found guilty of at least two charges," the official said.
Under parliamentary procedure, if
the chief justice is found guilty of even one charge, and a majority of the
225-member house votes for her removal, the president can impeach her.
The ruling party holds two-thirds
of the house.
The move to impeach Bandaranayake
came after she scuttled several bills, including one that gave more powers to
President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother Basil, the economic development minister.
Opposition committee members
hearing the accusations walked out Friday, a day after Bandaranayake staged a
similar walkout, leaving the process in disarray amid charges that the
government is determined to get rid of her.
The US embassy in Colombo said it
was "very concerned" about the impeachment process and demanded that
the government follow the rule of law.
The main Sri Lankan lawyers'
associations, which represent thousands of lawyers, united on Friday to express
solidarity with Bandaranayake and praised her for upholding the independence
and dignity of the judiciary.
 A report submitted to Sri Lanka's parliamen...){kind=link}