Several senior DIGs of the Sri Lanka Police Department have been promptly transferred on various occasions.
Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasuriya transferred to three locations within 72 hours. Senior DIG Pathinayake has received six transfers in three years. According to police reports, he is also the senior DIG who has received the highest number of transfers in a short period of time. Senior DIG Ranmal Kodithuwakku also received such a transfer. Senior DIG Champika Siriwardena has been transferred to six locations within five months. A number of officers, including a former Superintendent of Police in Seethawaka, have been illegally transferred. We may have plenty of unreported transfers.
Despite all that, the Public Service Commission has focused only on the three transfers of DIGs advertised in the media. It says that since November 2020, the Public Service Commission has woken up from a nightmare by removing the nightgown all at once.
When Admiral Sarath Weerasekera was the Secretary of Public Security, there was a heated debate in the society as to how Ajith Rohana got the post of Deputy Inspector General of Police and what the Public Service Commission did at that time. At that time there were 84 people in the list of political revenge and Ajith Rohana was in the second place.
There are currently 17 acting DIGs in the Police Department, but two years later, the Public Service Commission of Sri Lanka has still failed to grant them permanent appointments. However, both the police and the bosses suspect that there is some political connection behind the promotion of Ajith Rohana and his transfer.
It is also reported that letters sent to the Public Service Commission on official requirements have not been acted upon for months.
Also, do senior DIGs like DIG Lalith Pathinayake and Senior DIG Sebastian Fernando, even the most senior officers in the Police Department, get the real service they deserve from the Police Department? Is doubtful. Shouldn’t the Public Service Commission look into that as well?
Also, there are three senior officers in the Police Department who have not yet been arrested despite the Attorney General ordering their arrest. He was accompanied by Deshabandu Tennakoon and two others. They have also been given promotions despite such allegations. Such incidents have also happened to police personnel. Shouldn’t the Public Service Commission also look into these? Also, how could Pushpakumara, the principal of Embilipitiya Ketagal Ara Vidyalaya, who had been suspended for abusing a minor girl, be re-appointed as the principal of Kavantissapura Vidyalaya in Embilipitiya? We have a lot of shortcomings in this commission.
This writer has also addressed the Public Service Commission on a previous occasion and lodged a complaint against the Ratnapura District Secretary and a former Divisional Secretary of Weligepola. That was about 4 years ago. If you listen to the media reports of this commission which did not even act on a written complaint, when we were reporting on the senior police officers mentioned above, was there not such a commission in Sri Lanka?
Otherwise any of these officers should have a strong affiliation with an officer of the Commission. Our suspicion goes to DIG Ajith Rohana. The other two, as we have been told, have no problem with this relocation.
NOTE BY SRI RAVANA
However, in terms of Article 54 (11) of the Constitution, the members of the Public Service Commission belong to the public service. They are appointed by the President but remain in the public service as long as they serve. According to Article 54 (11) of the Constitution, they belong to Chapter IX of the Penal Code of Ceylon.
Also, this incident has caused great displeasure to the present government as well as the President. The reason is that, as we mentioned earlier, this Commission has focused only on what happened in the end and not on other senior officials. Accordingly, the members of this commission have committed an offense under Section 162 of the Ceylon Penal Code.
Also, in terms of Article 54 (1) of the Constitution, the powers of the Commission are vested in the Secretaries to Ministries. In doing so, Article 60 of the Constitution states that the functions referred to in paragraphs 58 (1) and (2) of the Constitution should not be performed. Also, the Constitution does not state what should be done if the powers of the Public Service Commission have been abused and there is no mention of such an inquiry. Nor does it say that they should act under their supervision.
No matter what other law is mentioned, it is not possible to legislate beyond what is not mentioned in the Constitution as it is at the top. If so, the fundamental rights of other police officers have been violated by sending this letter without thinking about the difficult situation in the country. But they have been acquitted. But may act under the Penal Code. It is mentioned in the Constitution itself. Also, because of their actions, the President as well as the government have been repeatedly ridiculed in front of the people.
It is not good for Sri Lanka as long as there are political slavery and uniformed police officers in the Sri Lanka Police, and if anyone tries to go beyond the law of the land by simply associating with the media or journalists, they will never do any good to Sri Lanka.
