By A.J.A. Abeynayake
Four persons, including the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court yesterday (29) against the appointment of Deshabandu Tennakoon as the Acting IGP.
The other petitioners are three victims of the Easter Sunday carnage, representatives for Lawyers for Truth and Justice, and a person who was wounded when Rajapaksa supporters attacked the anti-government protesters at Galle Face in May 2022.
The petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to quash the appointment of Tennakoon as the acting IGP and to prevent him from being made the IGP.
The petitioners have said the IGP has wide ranging powers to preserve law and order, ensure the prevention of crime and investigate complaints made by citizens. Only a just and clean individual, who is also humane, must be made the IGP, the petitioners have said, claiming that a presidential commission of inquiries that probed the Easter Sunday attacks found serious negligence and or lapses on the part of numerous public officials, and officials serving in the Sri Lanka Police, including Tennakoon, and recommended taking disciplinary action against them.
The petitioners have also said that Tennakoon, who had under him enough police personnel and could use emergency regulations, failed to prevent a mob from attacking unarmed citizens at the Galle Face Green in front of the Presidential Secretariat on 09 May 2022. They claim Tennakoon was present near the Presidential Secretariat when the incident occurred. The attack triggered widespread retaliatory violence, especially in the Western Province, which was under SDIG Tennakoon.
The petitioners have said that on 14 December 2023, the Supreme Court ordered Tennakoon to pay Rs. 500,000 rupees as compensation for violating the fundamental rights of a person.
Such an individual is not eligible to function as the Acting IGP or to be appointed as IGP subsequently. The Attorney General and members of the Constitutional Council, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, PM Dinesh Gunawardena, Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Kabir Hashim Sagara Kariyawasam, Prathap Ramanujam, Dr. Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere and Dr. Dinesha Samararatne have been cited as respondents.
