The recently emerged vacancy at the Supreme Court (SC) remains unfilled as President Ranil Wickremesinghe is yet to make a fresh nomination to the Constitutional Council (CC).

The CC had recently declined the nomination made by the President to promote Court of Appeal (CA) President, Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne as a SC Judge.

Since the SC is currently having a vacancy for a Judge, The Daily Morning queried a CC member as to whether they had received any other nomination from Wickremesinghe. In response, the CC member said: "The President has not yet nominated another person to be appointed to the SC." He also said that there would be no change to the CC's decision with regard to the nomination of Karunaratne.

However, a Fundamental Rights petition has recently been filed before the SC challenging the CC's decision to decline the President's nomination. The petition is said to have been filed by an attorney, naming the CC members and the Attorney General as respondents.

The CC declining the President's nomination to appoint Karunaratne to the SC even led to reports of a conflict between the President and the CC. When contacted early this month, a CC member said that while they had declined the President's nomination, it was however not done with the intention of going against him (President). He said that the situation with regard to Karunaratne's promotion had arisen as a result of Chief Justice (CJ), President's Counsel Jayantha Jayasuriya refusing to provide the CC with information pertaining to Superior Courts’ Judges’ performances. Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana had informed the CJ in November of last year (2023) that information on Superior Courts’ Judges’ performances was necessary for the CC when approving the appointment of SC Judges, and the President and Judges of the CA whenever such nominations are referred to the CC by the President. However, the CJ had informed the CC in writing that there was no possibility of providing such information.