Supreme Court Rules Cabinet Decision by Mahinda Rajapaksa Unlawful; Irregular Police Promotions Annulled
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled that the Fundamental Rights of 33 police officers were violated by a cabinet decision made in May 2010 under former Defence Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, which granted irregular promotions to three unqualified police officers.
The decision was made while Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the Minister of Defence and Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. According to the cabinet memorandum submitted at the time, the promotions were justified on the grounds that the officers provided “efficient and dedicated security to myself and my family whenever I visited the Tangalle area,” bypassing all standard procedures established for police promotions.
The irregular promotions to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) were granted to police officers A. J. Y. B. Krishantha, T. G. F. Gunathilaka, and G. M. Prashantha Perera. In August 2010, 33 affected police officers filed Fundamental Rights petitions before the Supreme Court challenging the promotions.
Delivering the verdict on the 8th of this month, the Supreme Court declared that the petitioners’ Fundamental Rights had indeed been violated. Following the court’s directive, the judgment was forwarded to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the disputed promotions were officially annulled on the 17th.
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