Dr. I. Gunatilaka v. Vice Admiral Tissera, Commander of the Navy and Others – sllr 2003 volume 1 page 001

In the case between Dr. I. Gunatilaka (Plaintiff/Appellant) and Vice-Admiral Tissera – Commander of the Navy and others (Defendants/Respondents), the central issue concerned the legal validity of the Navy’s communicated “correction” reducing the petitioner’s rank from Surgeon Lieutenant to Acting Surgeon Lieutenant, and the extent of the Navy Commander’s authority under the Navy Act to make such a change. The petitioner had responded to an advertisement seeking doctors for the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant and was duly commissioned at that rank. Subsequently, the Navy purported to “correct” this commission by reducing his appointment to Acting Surgeon Lieutenant, relying on an internal memorandum that did not possess legal authority under the governing statute. The Supreme Court determined th