The Ministry of Public Security stated that the Department of Police is finding it ‘very difficult’ to fulfill its duties without the presence of an Inspector General of Police (IGP).

On 24 July, the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim order preventing Deshabandu Tennakoon from functioning as the IGP.

When contacted by The Daily Morning for clarity on whether there is an IGP, given Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s statement in the Parliament that the IGP has not been removed, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles stated: “The situation remains the same”. In response to whether he would accept Tennakoon as the IGP, he replied, “He is at home. There is no one at present,” and added that the Police Department is finding it “very difficult” to carry out its duties without an IGP.

The SC recently granted leave to proceed with several fundamental rights (FR) petitions challenging the appointment of Tennakoon as the IGP by the President and its endorsement by the Constitutional Council (CC). Consequently, the SC issued an interim order preventing Tennakoon from serving as the IGP. The SC also ordered the President to appoint a suitable replacement for the position of the IGP for the duration of the interim order against Tennakoon.

Against this backdrop, Premier Gunawardena last week clarified in the Parliament that the President currently lacks the legal authority to appoint an Acting IGP, adding that the IGP position is not vacant at present. He said that the Judiciary cannot alter the approval granted by the CC for the appointment of the current IGP.

However, a letter has been submitted to the Police Headquarters urging the resignation of Tennakoon in light of the recent SC interim order suspending Tennakoon from serving as the IGP. Pointing out the recent Court decision (SC FR 107/2011 – Weheragedara Ranjith Sumangala vs. Bandara, Police Officer, Police Station, Mirihana, and Others), which found Tennakoon, among others, guilty of the violation of a citizen’s FR, the letter claimed that Tennakoon had tarnished the reputation of the Police Department. 

Submitted by a civil society organisation, the Citizens of the People’s Struggle, the letter further claimed that it is unacceptable to spend public funds to keep a Police officer, who has violated the FR of a citizen, in the position of the IGP.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the organisation’s General Secretary Chanaka Bandara, alleged that Tennakoon had ignored his duties as the IGP when it came to the human rights violations that have allegedly occurred in the context of the Yukthiya (Justice) anti-drug and anti-organised crime operation during the past seven months. He claimed that in this context, the Police Department and the people have rejected Tennakoon, and that he should therefore resign from the position of the IGP immediately.