Senior police officer gets DIG rank following petition

The National Police Commission has agreed to the promotion of former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) M. B. Raban to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), following a fundamental rights application filed by Mr. Raban. In his petition, Mr. Raban named the Inspector General of Police and 22 others.

SSP Raban

The case came up before the Supreme Court. The court heard that Mr. Raban, who was seeking promotion to the rank of DIG, had appeared before an interview board on or about May 26, 2001. Since then, six other senior superintendents had been promoted to the rank of DIG, but not the petitioner.

According to the petition, three of these SSPs had scored less marks than Mr. Raban at a previous interview for selecting DIGs, held eight months earlier, and using the same selection criteria. The petitioner said he could not understand how he could have scored less points than these three officers at the subsequent interview held in May 2001.

The matter was referred to the Human Rights Commission, and the commission’s report submitted to the Supreme Court in February 2007 maintained that there had been an infringement of the petitioner’s fundamental rights and recommended that the petitioner be granted the DIG promotion. The HRC report was then forwarded to the National Police Commission.

The court heard that Mr. Raban had in his years in the police service served in several parts of the country, including Jaffna and Trincomalee, and had held such senior positions as Deputy Director; Police Higher Training, Director Elections, Director Police Crime Division, and most recently SSP in charge of the Galle Division. Mr. Raban retired from the police service in June 2002.

The bench comprised Justices Asoka Silva, Shirani Tilakawardene and Andrew Somawansa. Dr. Sunil Cooray, instructed by Samararatne Associates, appeared for the petitioner, while Senior State Counsel N. G. Pulle appeared for the Inspector General of Police.