The Supreme Court today granted Additional Solicitor General Neril Pulle’s request to allow time for presenting the current President’s position on the appointment of Mr. Deshbandu Tennakone as Inspector General of Police.
The court also agreed to add Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe as a respondent in the case, based on a request from the Chairman of the Young Journalists Association, Tharindu Jayawardene. As a result, Mr. Wickramasinghe may now submit any objections he has regarding the case.
The fundamental rights petitions challenging Mr. Tennakone’s appointment, filed by eight parties including the Young Journalists Association, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, and Professor Savitri Gunasekara, were heard today by a Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Yasanta Kodagoda, Achala Vengappuli, and Mahinda Samayawardena.
The petitions were initially discussed in a closed session and later moved to open court.
Mr. Tennakone filed a motion asking that the petitions be heard by a full bench of the court. However, Tharindu Jayawardene, Chairman of the Young Journalists Association, submitted a counter-motion opposing this request. The court directed the registry to forward the full bench request to the Chief Justice, while clarifying that this does not imply the current bench cannot hear or conclude the case.
A team of lawyers, including President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris, Jeff Alagaratnam, Tishya Weragoda, and Suren Fernando, represented the petitioners. President’s Counsel Romesh Silva appeared on behalf of respondent Deshbandu Tennakone, while President’s Counsel Ranil Wickramasinghe and Ronald Perera represented Mr. Wickramasinghe.
