• Mullaitivu District lawyers to conduct formal probe 

Lawyers in the Northern Province launched a token strike yesterday (3) demanding a thorough investigation into threats made to Mullaitivu District Court Judge T. Saravanarajah, and measures to protect the safety of judges and the independence of the judiciary. 

Lawyers in the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya, and Mullaitivu Districts joined hands in this regard as part of the Northern Province bars.

Sources within the Northern Province bars told The Daily Morning that due to lawyers withdrawing from court proceedings, the daily activities of courts in the Northern Province were hampered. The Mullaitivu Lawyers' Association said that the Mullaithivu District Lawyers will conduct a formal investigation into the threats against Saravanarajah and demand that authorities enforce the law against the concerned persons. The sources also said that a decision on a continuous strike is to be made if the authorities fail to provide them with a proper solution.

When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (3), Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President attorney-at-law Kaushalya Nawaratna said that the BASL has not endorsed any such union action concerning the resignation of the said judge, but that regional bars have the independence to organise as such if they wish. He also said that the BASL is continuously pressurising law enforcement authorities to take necessary action, but that no decision has been taken so far by its Executive Committee regarding a protest or other similar union action.

Judge Saravanarajah, in a letter to the Judicial Service Commission, resigned from all his judicial posts recently, citing death threats and stress, and he has subsequently left the country. The threats are attributed to orders he has given in a controversial case concerning the Kurundi Temple. The Inspector General of Police and the Criminal Investigations Department have since been ordered to commence a probe into the resignation and circumstances of the same, while the BASL has met the Chief Justice for the same reason.