Mujibur files FR against Deshabandu

SJB Deputy General Secretary Mujibur Rahman 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Deputy General Secretary Mujibur Rahman yesterday filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court aiming to secure an order restraining President Ranil Wickremesinghe from appointing Deshabandu Tennekoon as the Inspector General of Police.

The petitioner highlighted that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019 identified multiple cases of significant negligence and lapses, implicating various public officials, including Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon, within the Sri Lanka Police. He also noted that based on its findings, the commission recommended disciplinary action against Tennekoon and others.

The petitioner also maintained that Tennakoon, despite having a significant police presence and the authority to utilise emergency regulations, failed to prevent the mob attack on unarmed citizens at the Galle Face Green on 9 May 2022 even though he was physically present at the location.

The petitioner argued that appointing Acting IGP Tennakoon as the permanent IGP under the current circumstances would constitute a direct assault on the Rule of Law. Such an appointment, the petitioner contended, would consequently deprive both the petitioner and the citizens of Sri Lanka of the right to equal protection of the law, as guaranteed by Article 12(1) of the Constitution.

The petitioner additionally requested an interim order preventing the Constitutional Council from providing approval to the President, according to Article 41 C of the Constitution, for the subsequent appointment of Deshabandu Tennakoon as the Acting IGP. The petition was filed through Attorney-at-Law Sithara Sampath Wijewardena.

A petition citing similar facts was filed also by National People’s Power (NPP) lawyer Harshana Nanayakkara on 11 January. At least four petitions against Tennekoon on his possible impending appointment as IGP are currently before the Courts. They were filed in December 2023 by Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, three victims of the 2019 Easter Attack, a protester from the ‘Aragalaya’ and the Truth and Justice Lawyers’ Association.