Lanka Securities (Pvt) Ltd vs. Colombo Stock Exchange and Others – sllr 2020 volume 2 page 121

In the case between Lanka Securities (Pvt) Ltd and Colombo Stock Exchange and Others, the court addressed whether decisions made by the Colombo Stock Exchange, a private limited company, are subject to judicial review due to their regulatory nature. It was held that the Exchange’s statutory regulatory functions, distinct from purely contractual obligations, come within the purview of public duties subject to judicial review. This holding reaffirmed the principle that statutory and public law elements in regulatory actions of bodies incorporated as private entities can give rise to judicial review. Reliance was placed on statutory interpretation under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, with the implications that bodies exercising statutory regulatory power are subject to public law