The Attorney General informed the Supreme Court yesterday (4) that it has been decided to conduct a new competitive examination and new interviews to fill the vacancies in the Grade 3 positions of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Service.
Deputy Solicitor General Nirmalan Wigneswaran, who appeared for the Attorney General, informed the Supreme Court that the Secretary of the Public Service Commission had informed in writing that the relevant action would be taken according to the recruitment procedure for filling the Principal vacancies.
The Deputy Solicitor General mentioned this when several Fundamental Rights petitions filed regarding the new appointments in Grade Three of the Principals’ Service of Sri Lanka were called.
The motion and related petitions were called before the Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Janak De Silva and Shiran Gunaratne.
Deputy Solicitor General Nirmalan Wigneswaran who appeared for the Attorney General, said that a settlement could be proposed for this petition. Accordingly, it has been decided to make the relevant appointments after conducting an examination and an interview instead of the process that has been going on until now for new recruitments.
The Deputy Solicitor General also said that the examinations can be conducted by January 2024.
He said that after the evaluation of the relevant answer sheets, the interviews can be conducted by next August.
He said the appointment cannot be made at this time because the Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending the appointments for these positions. He also expressed his agreement to submit a motion to the court containing facts regarding how this time period is relevant to the petitioners.
In this regard, the petitioners’ lawyers expressed their agreement. After considering the facts, the Supreme Court decided to recall these petitions on September 14.
Nelka Medagedara