Keangnam Enterprises Ltd. v. Abeysinghe and Others – sllr 1994 volume 2 page 271

The case between Keangnam Enterprises Ltd. and Abeysinge and Others addressed the issue of whether a Magistrate’s Court held jurisdiction to entertain complaints under Chapter IX of the Code of Criminal Procedure when the petitioner company operated without obtaining an Environmental Protection Licence as mandated by the National Environmental Act. It was held that the Magistrate had jurisdiction, and the subsequent acquisition of a licence did not legalize the original breach or invalidate the orders already made. The findings reaffirmed the principle that statutory requirements under the National Environmental Act cannot be circumvented by post-facto compliance. Reliance was placed on the relevant provisions of the National Environmental Act and procedural rules, emphasizing that the abs