Constitutional Council summons IGP and National Police Commission for mediation

By Skandha Gunasekara

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has decided to summon both the Inspector General of Police and the National Police Commission before the Constitutional Council next week.

IGP Pujith Jayasundara and representatives of the nine-member National Police Commission have been called before the Constitutional Council to discuss discrepancies between the two parties.

The Speaker hopes to resolve any differences between the two groups. Recent media reports have highlighted that recommendations made by the Independent Police Commission were not being followed by the Inspector General of Police.

Accordingly, former President and Kurunegala district MP Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament this month charged that the IGP was not following the instructions of the National Police Commission and that high ranking officers were setting a bad precedent by defying the National Police Commission.

“The IGP does not follow some of the recommendations given by the National Police Commission (NPC). If a higher rank official has the ability to decide not to follow recommendations of a Commission, what is the point of establishing them?” the former President said.

Rajapaksa was referring to the recommendation by the National Police Commission to promote an SSP from Kilinochchi.