The Supreme Court has dismissed around 40 fundamental rights petitions filed by nearly 1,050 police officers who were overlooked for promotions and challenged promotions granted to other officers across several ranks of the Sri Lanka Police Service.
The judgment was delivered yesterday (8) by Supreme Court Justice Mahinda Samayawardhena, with Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Sampath Wijeratne concurring.
The petitions challenged promotions granted in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 during the tenures of former Inspectors General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, C.D. Wickramaratne and Deshabandu Tennakoon.
The disputed promotions covered several ranks, including promotions from Police Constable to Police Sergeant, Police Sergeant to Sub-Inspector and Sub-Inspector to Inspector.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the petitioners had failed to provide sufficient evidence or information to establish that irregularities had taken place in the promotion process.
The Court also held that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate that their fundamental right to equal protection of the law under Article 12(1) of the Constitution had been violated.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed all the petitions.
