Jayatissa Herath v. Dayaratne – sllr 1997 volume 3 page 074

The case between Jayatissa Herath and Dayaratne addressed whether documents such as a Proxy and Answer filed on behalf of a public officer by a State Counsel are exempt from stamp duty when the Attorney-General has assigned representation, rather than directly undertaking the defence under section 463 of the Civil Procedure Code. It was determined that the exemption from stamp duty applies only when the Attorney-General substitutes himself as a party defendant. Reliance was placed on statutory interpretation and precedent, including Vettivelu v. Wijeratne and Secretary to the Treasury v. Mediwaka. The outcome emphasized that mere assignment by the Attorney-General does not confer a stamp duty exemption, and the relevant documents were thus subject to rejection, with costs awarded to the pe