COLOMBO, Oct 7: A senior Sri Lankan High Court judge was beaten with pistols and hospitalised on Sunday, triggering a one day strike by the island nation’s judges, who were already angry at perceived political interference in the courts.

The victim of the attack, Judge Manjula Tilakaratne, last month complained of pressure on a judicial commission he heads that can appoint and transfer judges and magistrates, after it rejected an invitation to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa Rajapaksa condemned the violence against Tilakaratne and ordered the police to bring the perpetrators to justice, the government said in a statement.

“He was attacked by four gunmen asking if he was the secretary of the Judicial Service Commission,” a judge who visited Tilakaratne in the hospital said, asking notto be named for fear of reprisals.

“He was attacked with pistols on his face and manhandled.”

Judges will not work on Monday in protest at the attack, a judicial association said in a statement.—Reuters