The Supreme Court yesterday postponed till January 26, 2009, the hearing of the petition, filed by the Centre of Policy Alternatives and Rohan Edirisinghe, seeking to prevent the appointment of Mohan Pieris PC, or any other person, as the Attorney General, prior to the formulation of the Constitutional Council, and the aforesaid appointment, being approved by the same council.

Senior State Counsel Nerin Pulle pointed out that the petitioner had cited as a respondent, the President, who has legal immunity by Article 35 of the Constitution. The Senior State Counsel, also pointed out that the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth amendments to the constitution of Sri Lanka, did not in anyway erode the executive powers vested in the President and also the immunity vested in him by virtue of Article 35 of the Constitution. The SSC argued that the petition could not stand and the Court should not entertain it.

The Court put off the hearing for January 26, 2009.

Among the respondents cited in the petition were the Attorney General, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, and Mohan Pieris (President’s Counsel) of Kynsey Road Borella.

The Bench Comprised, Justice N. G. Amaratunga, Justice P. A. Ratnayake and Justice Chandra Ekanayake.