IGP files FR petition

• Jayasundara says decision to send him on compulsory leave illegal
• Appeals to SC to nullify Presidential order and reinstate him
• Says he was barred from NSC meetings since Oct.
• Petition says President offered Jayasundara an ambassador post if he resigned
• Wants interim order on Acting IGP Wickramaratne

By Manopriya Gunasekera

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights petition before the Supreme Court over being sent on compulsory leave by President Maithripala Sirisena after the Easter Sunday attacks.

On 29 April, IGP Pujith Jayasundara was sent on compulsory leave after he refused to step down even after being asked to do so by President Sirisena. Jayasundara has also asked the Supreme Court to reinstate him to his former position as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

In his FR petition he appealed that as sending him on compulsory leave was an illegal act by the President, the Supreme Court should nullify Sirisena’s order and reappoint him to his earlier post. He has cited Constitutional Council Chairman Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as other members of the Constitutional Council.

Jayasundara in his petition also observes that he has been a loyal and competent public servant for 34 years and even when a tense situation arose between President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe in mid-2018, he still worked to not take sides. As a result Jayasundara said President Sirisena had not allowed him to sit in on the National Security Council meetings since October 2018. In the petition Jayasundara said the threat of a terror attack was mentioned during a Defence Ministry meeting on 9 April but he was not instructed to take emergency action. However, he had taken the step of informing the Deputy DIG of the Western Province and other high-level officials of the warning.

After appointing a Presidential Commission to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks, the President had noted that Jayasundara should accept the responsibility for the attacks and resign. Jayasundara claims in the petition that President Sirisena had said his resignation was necessary for the Commission investigations to proceed unimpeded. The FR petition also states that President Sirisena had offered the IGP an ambassador post if he resigned.

Once the situation had reached this point, Jayasundara had received a letter with the President’s signature sending him on compulsory leave with immediate effect. In his FR petition Jayasundara also appealed to the SC to issue an interim order against Acting IGP C.D. Wickramaratne and take up the FR petition for hearing.