The Supreme Court has dismissed seven Fundamental Rights petitions filed by 145 Chief Inspectors of Police (CI)s challenging their non-promotion to the posts of Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs).
The judgment was delivered by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, with the concurrence of Justices Mahinda Samayawardena and Sampath Wijeratne, following a lengthy hearing.
Applications for the ASP posts were called on January 31, 2020, under a notification issued by the Inspector General of Police. The petitioners alleged that although they had fulfilled the required qualifications, they were not promoted after the Public Service Commission (PSC) conducted interviews and awarded promotions.
They further claimed that the PSC had initially accepted that the marks awarded at the interviews were incorrect and had later altered them, arguing that the Commission lacked the authority to revise marks after the process. The petitioners maintained that these actions caused them serious prejudice and cited several alleged unfair practices in their applications.
During proceedings, the Supreme Court examined the marks obtained by candidates and considered explanations provided by the Secretary to the Public Service Commission regarding the revision of marks. The Chief Justice stated that the court was satisfied with the explanation given and accepted that the procedure followed by the PSC was lawful.
Accordingly, the court held that the arguments advanced by the petitioners lacked legal merit and that they had failed to establish any violation of their fundamental rights. The Supreme Court therefore ruled that there were no reasonable grounds to grant the relief sought and dismissed the petitions without costs.
