The Attorney General’s Department has told the Supreme Court that the Attorney General will not appear for IGP C.D. Wickramaratne and former Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne in the Fundamental Rights petition filed by former CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara. The petition challenges the National Police Commission’s decision to interdict him from the police service in January 2020.
Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, appearing for the Attorney General told the Supreme Court that the Attorney General would not represent the former IGP and Defence Secretary in future proceedings in this case.
The three-judge Bench, comprising Justices S. Thurairaja, A.H.M.D. Nawaz, and Priyantha Fernando, fixed the next hearing for February 3, 2025. The petitioner had named former Acting IGP C.D. Wickramaratne, former Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne, members of the National Police Commission, the Chairman of the National Election Commission, the Defence Ministry Secretary and several others as respondents.
The petitioner said that four days after the release of the results of the Presidential election held on November 21, 2019, he received a telephone call that he had been transferred with immediate effect as the Personal Assistant to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Galle Range.
The petitioner said that as far as he is aware, this was the first instance in the history of the Sri Lanka Police, where a Senior Superintendent of Police was appointed as a Personal Assistant to a Deputy Inspector General of Police.
The petitioner stated that up to date he is unaware of the reason for his transfer and in the circumstances, this transfer remains a transfer without reason.
The petitioner said that by letter dated January 7, 2020, the National Police Commission had directed the Inspector General of Police to interdict the petitioner with immediate effect following his transfer to Police Headquarters. The petitioner said that the letter stated that the petitioner had brought the Sri Lanka Police into disrepute by the telephone conversation he had with former State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake and it was an offence in terms of the Establishment Code.
