Deshabandu’s appointment as acting IGP challenged in Supreme Court

29 December 2023 09:51 pm Views - 4090

Colombo, Dec 29 (Daily Mirror) -  Two lawyers today filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order quashing the decision of the President to appoint Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon, as the “acting” Inspector General of Police.

Attorneys-at-law Amila Egodamahawatta and Manoj Nanayakkara filed this petition in view of the recently delivered Supreme Court judgment and having a number of pending cases against him.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on December 14, unanimously held that respondents, including the incumbent Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon have violated the fundamental rights of a former army soldier to freedom from torture, unlawful arrest, and arbitrary administrative action that denied equal protection of the law. Subsequently, the Supreme Court ordered the National Police Commission (NPC) and other relevant authorities to take appropriate disciplinary action against newly appointed Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon and other police officers.

The petitioners stated that in these circumstances Deshabandu Tennakoon cannot accept any appointment as Inspector 
General of Police and such an acceptance would constitute infringement of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the Petitioners and other citizens under Article 12(1) of the Constitution.

The petitioners are further seeking an order restraining the Deshabandu Tennakoon from accepting the post of Inspector General of Police.