“Felix Dias, who served as Minister of Justice in Sirimavo’s United Front government, harboured an extraordinary grudge against the UNP…” Sri Lanka Latest News
That is what a veteran left-wing politician said recently.
“What was the reason for that grudge?“
It is a story that few people know.
Felix Dias’ father, Senior Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike, was a Supreme Court judge. The Dias Bandaranaike family was one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished legal families. At the time Sri Lanka gained independence, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, Felix Dias Bandaranaike, was fully qualified to become Chief Justice. However, the country’s first Prime Minister, D.S. Senanayake, did not appoint him to the position. Instead, D.S. appointed Arthur Wijewardene, who was serving as Attorney General, as independent Sri Lanka’s first local Chief Justice.
Felix Dias Bandaranaike was deeply disappointed at being denied the opportunity to become the first Sri Lankan Chief Justice. That disappointment was felt even more strongly by his son, Junior Felix Dias. Because of what he regarded as the injustice done to his father by D.S., Felix Dias developed a deep hostility towards D.S. Senanayake’s UNP.
That was how D.S., from his Woodland Mansion residence in Colombo, decided appointments to the posts of Chief Justice and other judges.
Then came Felix Dias’ turn. He served as Minister of Justice in the 1970–77 government. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s brother, Barnes Ratwatte, was serving in a lower court. At the Prime Minister’s request, Felix Dias appointed his own relative, Barnes Ratwatte, as a Supreme Court judge.
J.R.’s autobiography describes the judiciary during Sirimavo’s administration as follows:
“The United Front government further worsened the situation by striving to appoint politically partisan judges to the highest positions in the judiciary. One of them had been an SLFP Member of Parliament and a provincial lawyer in the early 1960s. Such appointments, together with the obvious political bias of certain judges, drew criticism from opposition MPs and the general public. Public discontent manifested itself in unusual ways. On many occasions, during cricket or football matches, when an umpire or referee made a questionable decision or one that favoured the home side, frustrated spectators would shout out the names of these judges…”
J.R.’s Autobiography
Page 110
“Ado…”
That was how spectators used to shout the names of judges at cricket matches in those days.
J.R. came to power accusing Sirimavo and Felix Dias of having destroyed the judiciary. After becoming President, he appointed his friend, President’s Counsel Neville Samarakoon, as Chief Justice. It was the first time in Sri Lanka’s history that an outsider from private legal practice was appointed Chief Justice. That was how J.R., operating from Ward Place, reshaped the judiciary to suit the mandate of 1977.
When Chandrika came to power in 1994, G.P.S. de Silva was Chief Justice. He had earned the position on merit after serving as President of the Court of Appeal and as the senior-most Supreme Court judge. He had been appointed by President Premadasa.
When he retired in 1999, Justice Mark Fernando was next in line by seniority to become Chief Justice. However, Chandrika did not favour him. Her Minister of Justice, G.L. Peiris, publicly stated that the judiciary was acting contrary to the mandate Chandrika and the People’s Alliance had received in 1994. He argued that judges appointed during the UNP’s 17-year rule were obstructing the government’s progress.
At the time, Chandrika had entrusted Attorney General Sarath N. Silva with leading the political campaign to investigate corruption and violence under the previous 17-year UNP administration. Sarath Silva also led the Presidential Commissions investigating corruption and violence during the UNP era. When G.P.S. de Silva’s tenure ended, Chandrika appointed Sarath Silva as Chief Justice in order to implement her government’s agenda.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa became President in 2005, Sarath Silva was Chief Justice. After him, Mahinda appointed Ashoka de Silva, who was next in line by seniority, and later Shirani Bandaranayake as Chief Justices.
However, after Shirani Bandaranayake delivered a ruling against Basil Rajapaksa’s Divi Neguma project, impeachment proceedings were brought against her, she was removed as Chief Justice, and Mohan Peiris—who had been appointed by Mahinda himself as legal adviser to the Cabinet—was appointed Chief Justice. Mahinda had previously appointed Mohan Peiris as Attorney General while he was in private legal practice. At that time, he was not serving in the Attorney General’s Department.
When the Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government came to power in 2015, Mohan Peiris was immediately pressured to resign as Chief Justice because he was an obstacle to the mandate the new government had received to prosecute corrupt figures. He resigned.
When Gotabaya Rajapaksa became President in 2019, Jayantha Jayasuriya was Chief Justice. He had been appointed by Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe. He had not previously served as either a Supreme Court judge or a Court of Appeal judge. He had been Attorney General under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration. They appointed him Chief Justice by overlooking more senior judges. Nevertheless, Gotabaya did not replace him.
When Anura Kumara Dissanayake became President in 2025, Jayantha Jayasuriya was still Chief Justice. After his retirement, Anura appointed Murdu Fernando, one of the Supreme Court’s most senior judges. When she retired, Anura appointed another senior Supreme Court judge, Preethi Padman Surasena.
While serving as a High Court judge, Justice Preethi Padman Surasena became known as a fearless judge after sentencing those convicted of the acid attack on former Auditor General Lalith Ambanwela to prison terms ranging from 10 to 70 years.
After President Maithripala Sirisena appointed him to the Court of Appeal, Sirisena attempted through what was described as a constitutional coup to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appoint Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. It was Justice Padman Surasena who ruled against that move. His order preventing Mahinda—then the country’s most popular political leader—from serving as Prime Minister became a landmark judgment.
Before President Sirisena left office, it was Justice Preethi Padman Surasena who issued an interim order preventing the Cabinet from gifting Sirisena the Paget Road official residence.
Having ruled in 2018 that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s removal as Prime Minister was unconstitutional, Justice Preethi Padman Surasena also ruled in 2023 that when President Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed there were no funds to hold the local government elections, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance must release the funds allocated for the election and proceed with it.
Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena is a judge who has delivered rulings against two Presidents and one Prime Minister.
In 2024, the people brought Anura to power with the mandate to catch the corrupt. Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena is the ideal Chief Justice to implement that mandate.
However, he is due to retire at the end of this year.
“What will Anura’s decision be?”
While safeguarding both the effort to prosecute the corrupt and the independence of the judiciary, Anura must be told to “tread carefully—don’t break the branch by placing your foot carelessly.”
