Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena herself has appointed the bench to hear the petitions filed regarding the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
Accordingly, the Chief Justice has appointed a five-member bench including himself to hear the petitions. The bench includes judges Achanla Vengappuli, Justice Arjuna Obeysekara, Justice Sampath Wijeratne and Justice Gihan Kulatunga.
Since the Chief Justice is the biggest beneficiary of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, this bench has been appointed despite all the petitioners requesting that a bench be appointed without the Chief Justice or that all the judges of the Supreme Court be present for the hearing of the petitions in order to ensure justice.
Apart from the Chief Justice, the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, Justices Yasantha Kodagoda and Dilip Nawaz, as well as Justices Shiran Gunaratne, have not been included in the bench, and the junior judge of the Supreme Court, Gihan Kulatunga, has also been appointed as a member of this bench by the Chief Justice.
The fact that Justice Yasantha Kodagoda has not been appointed to the bench in fundamental rights cases in recent times has also been a particularly noticeable feature.
The hearing on these petitions is scheduled to begin tomorrow (1st) September.