1. Shirani Bandaranayake was first appointed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1996, becoming Sri Lanka's first female Supreme Court Judge.
36 Facts About Shirani Bandaranayake
1. 2.
Shirani Bandaranayake was appointed chief justice in May 2011 following the mandatory retirement of Asoka de Silva.
3.
Shirani Bandaranayake was controversially impeached by Parliament and then removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013.
4.
Shirani Bandaranayake retired from the position on 29 January 2015, one day after her reappointment, claiming support for a free and fair Judiciary in Sri Lanka.
5.
Shirani Bandaranayake is the daughter of Flora and Wilson Bandaranayake.
6.
Shirani Bandaranayake's mother was an English trained teacher whereas her father was a Provincial Director of Education.
7.
Shirani Bandaranayake has a sister, Renuka, who is an engineering graduate from Moratuwa university now living in Perth, Australia.
8.
When Shirani Bandaranayake was young her father changed jobs on a number of occasions and as result she studied at a number of schools: Ginigathhena Maha Vidyalaya, Hettimulla Shirani Bandaranayake Vidyalaya, Tholangamuwa Vidyalaya, Tholangamuwa Central College.
9.
Shirani Bandaranayake then studied at Anuradhapura Central College where she passed her GCE Advanced Levels in 1976.
10.
Shirani Bandaranayake then entered the University of Colombo's Faculty of Law, graduating in December 1980 with an upper second Bachelor of Laws honours degree.
11.
Shirani Bandaranayake obtained a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Colombo in October 1983.
12.
Shirani Bandaranayake was awarded the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in 1996 and the British Council Assert Award in 1993 and 1994.
13.
Shirani Bandaranayake is married to a former corporate executive Pradeep Kariyawasam.
14.
Shirani Bandaranayake became a visiting lecturer at the University of Colombo's Faculty of Law in 1981.
15.
Shirani Bandaranayake held several positions in the department before being appointed Head of the Department of Law in 1987 and served on the Judicial Service Commission of Sri Lanka.
16.
Shirani Bandaranayake served as acting dean of the faculty several times before being appointed dean in 1992.
17.
Shirani Bandaranayake acted as vice-chancellor on a number of occasions.
18.
Shirani Bandaranayake was the first female justice of the Supreme Court.
19.
Shirani Bandaranayake had never served as a judge and she had never practiced law.
20.
Shirani Bandaranayake soon became the most senior Supreme Court Judge.
21.
Shirani Bandaranayake took her oaths before President Rajapaksa on 18 May 2011.
22.
An impeachment motion against Shirani Bandaranayake signed by 117 UPFA MPs was handed to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa on 1 November 2012.
23.
Shirani Bandaranayake has denied the charges and refused to resign from her position.
24.
Impeachment hearings were held on 23 November 2012,4 December 2012 and 6 December 2012 when Shirani Bandaranayake walked out of the hearing.
25.
The PSC found that three of five charges against Shirani Bandaranayake had been proven and this was enough to remove her from office.
26.
Shirani Bandaranayake was found guilty of impropriety in a property transaction, having undeclared bank accounts and conflict of interest in a legal case involving her husband.
27.
Shirani Bandaranayake was found guilty on the second and third charges; the remaining nine charges were disregarded by the PSC as the others were enough to remove her from office.
28.
Shirani Bandaranayake appealed against the PSC and on 7 January 2013 the Court of Appeal quashed the PSC's findings.
29.
The impeachment motion against Shirani Bandaranayake was debated by Parliament on 10 and 11 January 2013.
30.
Shirani Bandaranayake was removed from office on 13 January 2013 after President Mahinda Rajapaksa ratified the impeachment motion passed by Parliament.
31.
Shirani Bandaranayake was replaced as chief justice by former Attorney General Mohan Peiris and later on 28 January 2015.
32.
Shirani Bandaranayake noted that the original motion seeking to set up a PSC 'would suffice' and proceeded with the vote.
33.
However, the motion Parliament sent to President Rajapakse called for the setting up of a second PSC, and it did not empower President Rajapaksa to remove Dr Shirani Bandaranayake according to the terms of the constitution.
34.
In essence, President Mahinda Rajapaksa acted without legal authority to remove Shirani Bandaranayake, eroding the sacking of its legal validity.
35.
Shirani Bandaranayake resigned from the post on the following day and was succeeded by K Sripavan, the most senior judge on the Supreme Court.
36.
Dr Shirani Bandaranayake has been appointed to the Nauru Court of Appeal as acting President of the Court.