General

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has dismissed seven Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions from 145 Chief Inspectors of Police. They challenged the promotions to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) that were announced in 2020. This decision came after a lengthy hearing, as reported by Ada Derana. Justice Preethi Padman Surasena delivered the ruling with the agreement of Justices Mahinda Samayawardena and Sampath Wijeratne. The case began when the Inspector General of Police (IGP) called for applications for ASP promotions on January 31, 2020. The petitioners claimed they met all the qualifications but were still denied promotions, even after the Public Service Commission (PSC) conducted interviews and granted some promotions. They also argued that the PSC admitted it had made errors in the interview scores and changed those marks after the fact. The petitioners contended that the PSC did not have the legal right to change the scores once they were given, stating this process harmed them significantly. They also raised other complaints about unfair treatment. During the court proceedings, the Supreme Court reviewed the mark sheets of candidates who had interviewed for the promotions. The Justice noted that although the petitioners alleged the PSC changed the marks, the Secretary of the Commission provided a clear explanation for these changes. The court expressed satisfaction with this explanation and found the process to be lawful.