Sri Lankan Opposition protests appointment of new police chief, says Speaker 'acted arbitrarily'

Sri Lanka's main Opposition on Tuesday opposed the appointment of the new Inspector General of Police by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, describing the decision as a violation of constitutional procedures.

Deshabandu Tennakoon was confirmed as the new police chief on Monday after having served in the job in an acting capacity since November last year. President Wickremesinghe appointed Tennakoon as the IGP after the Constitutional Council (CC), the supreme body with oversight capacity to make high-level appointments, cleared his nomination for the post.

According to a report in EconomyNext news portal, Tennakoon along with three other police officers were asked by the Supreme Court to compensate Rs 2 million in a fundamental rights case last year.

Addressing a political gathering here, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa blamed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena for violating the Constitution in endorsing Tennakoon's appointment.

The Speaker endorsed the appointment in his capacity as the CC head.

"The speaker has acted arbitrarily by endorsing the new police chief's appointment by his own vote," Premadasa said.

He said appointments by the nine-member CC should only be made with a majority of 5 votes. However, Tennakoon had been endorsed with 4 votes for, 2 against, and 2 abstentions.

"The Speaker could use his tie-breaking vote only in case of a deadlock," Premadasa stressed, accusing Abeywardena of bias.

Nalin Jayatissa and GL Peiris, both Opposition members, also said the procedure adopted to appoint Tennakoon as the IGP was a violation of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the President Media Division (PMD) said the President appointed Tennakoon "as the IGP in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution", the EconomyNext reported.

The Supreme Court in December last year ordered Tennakoon, when he was the acting IGP, and three other officials to pay a compensation of Rs 500,000 each for the violation of the fundamental rights of an individual.

The apex court also instructed the Police Commission to take disciplinary action against the four police officers, including Tennakoon, after it considered the petition filed by W Ranjith Sumangala who had accused them of violating his fundamental rights during his detention at Mirihana Police Station in 2011, the report said.

The court held that the four police officers violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner by his illegal arrest, detention and subjection to torture at the Mirihana Police Station, which was under the supervision of Tennakoon at the time of the arrest, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)