He stands up to his political boss to keep his chair!

15 December 2015 06:30 pm Views - 4203

When the yahapalanaya purohitas got new portfolios with new subjects at the last reshuffle, they asked the chairmen and directors (of statutory bodies) appointed by their predecessors to quit office. 


However, most of these political appointees emboldened by the weight thrown behind them by their previous political bosses stood pat in their posts.
Given this unexpected situation, the authorities concerned wanted to resolve the issue diplomatically. So they took steps to bring out a special gazette notification giving the new distribution of subjects and the statutory bodies assigned to the reshuffled Ministries. 

Meanwhile, a powerful purohita had told an unbending chairman of a State-owned undertaking to quit without waiting for the gazette notification that was to quash his appointment. 

However, this chairman was no pushover. He had challenged the purohita saying: “I am in possession of a court order that says that political authorities cannot send us home at their whim and fancy. A certain political boss of a previous regime who removed a chairman like me had to pay compensation to the latter. If you make any move to remove me, I’ll take you to courts to claim damages…”

This bold reply took the wind out of the purohita’s sails, they say.