New Governor of Sabaragamuwa; Victim and chosen

(July 06, 2009) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed his relative Janaka Priyantha Bandara as the new Governor of the Sabaragamuwa Province to fill the vacancy that was created by  the sudden demise of former Sabaragamuwa Governor, Mohan Saliya Ellawala on 12th  May 2009.

In 2005, when he was the Magistrate of Wellawaya, Janaka Bandara was nterdicted by the Judicial Service Commission after he issued a warrant on Senior Superintendent of Police Sherief Deen, who was alleged to be involved in a fatal accident case.  Then President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka Desmond Fernando criticized this interdiction as an unfair unilateral action former Chief Justice without consulting the other members of the Judicial Services Commission. 

Janaka Priyantha Bandara was later appointed as Public Trustee and he was compelled to resign following detrimental remarks made by the former Chief Justice regarding the Public Trustee during the hearing of a Fundamental Rights petition filed by an employee of the Public Trustee Department in 2008. 

Later, he was appointed as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to United Arab Emirates.

Janaka Bandara, whose father was believed assassinated by the People's Liberation Front (JVP) rebels during the 1987-89 insurrection was a prominent member of Janatha Mithuro, a political movement initiated by present Minister of Environment Champika Ranawaka in 1993 following the suppression of theJVP.