A five-judge bench including the Chief Justice rejected today (01) the request to appoint a full bench of Supreme Court judges to consider the petitions filed challenging the 22nd Amendment Bill.
That was when the consideration of the 67 petitions filed in the Supreme Court regarding the 22nd Amendment began today. The five-judge bench of the Supreme Court judges, headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, includes Justices Achala Vengappuli, Arjuna Obeysekara, Sampath Abeykoon and Gihan Kulatunga.
Having considered all the points presented, the bench of judges issued an order that the petitions be considered before the existing five-judge bench.
The 22nd Constitutional Amendment Bill, which extends the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, was presented to Parliament for the first reading on August 18, a week after its gazettement.
Thereafter, a period of two weeks was given to file petitions before the Supreme Court challenging its constitutionality, which expired yesterday.
Accordingly, 67 petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the 22nd Amendment.
It is also noteworthy that 41 of these petitions were filed online.
In addition, the number of petitions filed challenging the Judiciary Amendment Bill presented to Parliament is 05.
The Supreme Court issued notice to the Attorney General last evening, asking him to submit his arguments regarding these petitions.
The consideration of the petitions filed challenging the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution began this morning.