Mediwake and Others v. Dayananda Dissanayake, Commissioner of Elections and Others – sllr 2001 volume 1 page 177

In the case between Mediwake and Others (Plaintiffs) and Dayananda Dissanayake, Commissioner of Elections, and others (Defendants), the court addressed the issue of fundamental rights violations arising from irregularities in the conduct of the Kandy District Provincial Council election. It was held that severe electoral misconduct at 23 polling stations, including ballot stuffing, intimidation of polling agents, and disruption of the poll, infringed upon the constitutional rights of voters to a free, equal, and secret ballot. The principle was reaffirmed that the statutory and constitutional mandates require a genuine, continuous, and uncompromised polling process, and that the Commissioner of Elections is under a duty to annul and re-conduct the poll if irregularities materially alter th