Appellant v. Respondent – SC APPEAL NO. 02/2005-2020

The case between Ajith Devapriya Kotalawala (Plaintiff–Respondent) and Sri Co-operative Industries Federation Limited (Defendant–Appellant) addressed the issue of entitlement to payment for specific work items under a construction tender—specifically, whether payment was due for the alleged “installation” of a 165 KVA transformer when evidence showed the transformer was supplied and installed by another entity, LECO. The court held that the Respondent was not entitled to payment for item 01.01, as the alleged installation was not performed by the Respondent, and set aside lower court decisions awarding such payment. The principle reaffirmed is that legal entitlement to contract payment requires proof of actual performance of the contracted work. Reliance was placed on the proper allocation