Balangoda Plantations PLC v. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon et al. – SC WRIT 01/2014-2014

In the case between Balangoda Plantations PLC (Party A) and Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, C. M. Kottewatte, H. W. Gunadasa, W. D. J. Seneviratne, Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Secretary Ministry of Plantation Industries, the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, and the Attorney General (representing the President) (Party B), the court addressed the issue of whether an application for writs of Certiorari and Prohibition was filed within the statutorily mandated time limit under the Urban Development Projects (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 1980. The court determined that the application was not filed within the prescribed statutory time period and held that strict adherence to these time limits is required. This decision reaffirmed the principle that statutory deadlines for judicial review, e