The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has dismissed around 40 fundamental rights petitions filed by nearly 1,050 police officers challenging promotions granted across several ranks of the Police Service.
The petitions challenged promotions made during the tenures of former Inspectors General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, C.D. Wickramaratne and Deshabandu Tennakoon in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
The cases involved promotions from Police Constable to Police Sergeant, Police Sergeant to Sub-Inspector and Sub-Inspector to Inspector of Police.
The judgment was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Mahinda Samayawardhena, with Chief Justice Prithi Padman Surasena and Justice Sampath Wijeratne concurring.
The Court held that the petitioners had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish that irregularities had occurred in the promotion process.
Accordingly, the petitioners were unable to establish that their fundamental right to equal treatment before the law, guaranteed under Article 12(1) of the Constitution, had been violated.
