Edirisinghe Muhandiram Appuhamilage Uresh Tharanga vs Geological Survey and Mines Bureau – SC FR 413/21-2024

In the case between Edirisinghe Muhandiram Appuhamilage Uresh Tharanga and Rambukanna Liyanage Ranjith Premalal (Petitioners) and multiple state agencies including the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau and Central Environmental Authority (Respondents), the court addressed the issue of alleged violations of fundamental rights resulting from illegal and excessive gravel mining operations. The court held that state agencies, particularly the 12th Respondent, failed to fulfill their statutory duties under the National Environmental Act and related legal obligations, thereby causing significant environmental harm and infringing the Petitioners’ constitutional rights. The holding reaffirmed the principle that state entities bear a continuing duty to safeguard the environment and uphold public t