Supreme Court Judge Buwaneka Aluwihare said that he will withdraw from the bench considering the Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed by former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa filed this Fundamental Rights (FR) petition on Monday challenging the legality of the establishment of FCID. Through the petition, Gotabaya Rajapaksa also sought intervention of the Supreme Court to prevent his imminent arrest pending the conclusion of several purported investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Bribery Commission and FCID.

The petition was to be considered before a three-member judge bench comprising Justices Eva Wanasundera, Sisira De Abrew and Buwaneka Aluwihare.

However, Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare today announced that he will step down on personal grounds and therefore the FR petition will be considered by only two judges.