The SSP promotions given to police colleagues at Mahinda's house are downgraded to CI.

In a rare and historic event in the history of the Sri Lanka Police, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya has ordered the immediate demotion of three high-ranking officers, who served as Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP), to the rank of Chief Inspector (CI). A senior police officer confirmed that with this special police message, implemented based on a decision by the National Police Commission, these officers will have to shed the Senior Superintendent of Police uniform they wore for over a decade and once again don the Chief Inspector uniform.

The three officers who were simultaneously demoted by several ranks were V.V.S. Gunathilaka, A.J.Y.B. Krishantha, and P.M.B. Perera, who held key responsibilities in the Police Department. Before this decisive order came into effect, they were serving respectively as the Director of the Police Grievances Division, the Director of the Expressway Division, and the Officer-in-Charge of the Bandarawela Division. Among these three officers is also a former OIC of the Beliatta Police Station.

The turning point in the professional careers of these officers was a controversial decision made by the then Cabinet of Ministers 15 years ago, on July 28, 2010. Through that Cabinet decision, they received special promotions from the rank of Chief Inspector (CI) to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). Subsequently, they were also promoted to the ranks of Superintendent of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police. However, about a month ago, the Supreme Court ruled that these promotions, granted entirely outside the established recruitment and promotion procedures, were illegal and violated the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 12(1) of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, after examining the Cabinet papers submitted for these promotions, also revealed the true background that influenced them. The court pointed out that these promotions were granted with a focus on the services rendered to the then President and Minister of Defence, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his family members. It was further stated that the Cabinet papers did not indicate any administrative or institutional reasons necessary to deviate from the established promotion procedure.

This historic judgment was delivered after hearing a fundamental rights petition filed by 33 Chief Inspectors of Police, including Anura Kumara Premaratne and Lalith Chandra Kumara Weerasinghe. The petition, filed naming the Inspector General of Police, the National Police Commission, the three relevant officers, and the then Cabinet of Ministers as respondents, was heard before a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Sooriyasena and Justices Mahinda Samayawardena and Sampath Wijayaratne. Accordingly, the court ordered the nullification and invalidation of the promotions granted in 2010.

As a result of this legal process, on September 8th, under the covering approval of the National Police Commission, these three officers were transferred to Police Headquarters on a special duty basis. According to Police Headquarters sources, from that day onwards, they performed their duties without their Senior Superintendent of Police uniform.

In practical enforcement of the Supreme Court ruling, according to the IGP's circular issued on October 29th, Mr. Krishantha has been re-appointed as Chief Inspector effective from January 1, 2005, and Messrs. Gunathilaka and Perera effective from January 1, 2006. Marking the end of a legal struggle that spanned a decade and a half, these three officers have thus been compelled to revert to the ranks they held in the past.