Sri Lanka top judge in marathon hearing

Bandaranayake appeared for a second time before the parliamentary select committee to answer impeachment charges against her, parliament officials said.

"She will be coming next on Thursday", deputy speaker Chandima Weerakkody said.

However the PSC would examine her written submissions tomorrow without her presence, officials added.

The 54-year-old Bandaranayake is being probed on 14 charges of improper conduct in the impeachment motion moved by the government MPs.

Bandaranayake was accorded religious blessings as she stepped out of the court.

Few meters away was a group of government supporters who demonstrated against the chief justice.

"Madam aren't you ashamed" and "Let's preserve the supremacy of parliament" were some of the placards held by government supporters.

The motion was the culmination of a month-long spat involving the executive and judicial wings of the state.

The opposition dubs the government move as a political witch hunt in order to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

The judiciary cited political interference violating its independence as the reason for friction.