Cabinet approval to provide relief to police officers victimized by ‘political retaliation’

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to provide relief to police officers who were allegedly subjected to political retaliation, said the Minister of Mass Media, Keheliya Rambukwella today (29).

There has been a great deal of controversy in recent times over the proposal to provide relief to police officers who were allegedly subjected to political retaliation. The reason for this was because a majority of those on the list were accused by the police of not being victims of political retaliation. Even officials who were transferred due to disciplinary reasons were said to be on the list of victims.

However, when the list was presented to the Cabinet yesterday, all but few of the proposals were approved by the Cabinet. Political sources say that Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon, who was recommended by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and the Special Investigation Unit of the Police to look into the Easter bombing, has also been approved for a salary increase.

Responding to a query made by MediaLK at a Cabinet media briefing, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella stated, “Except for a few recommendations made by the committee for political revenge, other recommendations have been allowed to take effect. As far as I know about the law, they are considered free until those allegations are proven.”

The Special Investigations Unit of the Police had conducted an investigation to find out whether there was any negligence on the part of the police officers during the Easter Sunday attacks and had recommended that charges be filed against senior DIGs including Deshabandu Tennakoon, Lalith Pathinayake and Nandana Munasinghe.

The draft chargesheets were sent by the IGP to the National Police Commission in 2020 and as the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter attack had commenced investigations already, the Police Commission decided to suspend the filing of the charges until the investigations by the PCoI are over.

However, after the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the powers of the Police Commission were transferred to the Public Service Commission. Accordingly, the charge sheets and relevant documents were referred to the Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission states. The charge sheet against the relevant police officers has been approved by the Public Service Commission after the report of the Easter Commission, said the Minister in charge of Police Sarath Weerasekera at an earlier media briefing.

A spokesman for the Public Service Commission said that giving a pay rise would increase his seniority and that the list also includes officers who have already been given two or even more pay rises, which would not only increase their seniority but also promote them to the next post.