Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, Secretary to the Treasury and others vs Wasana Trading Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. and others – SC APPEAL 11/2006-2024

In the case between Wasana Trading Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. (Petitioner) and a group of government officials including the Minister of Finance & Planning, Treasury and Customs officials, and the Attorney General (Respondents), the court examined the legality and procedural propriety of ministerial orders and Gazette notifications concerning new excise duty rates imposed on imported used vehicles. The court addressed whether excise duties could be validly imposed based on ministerial orders whose effective dates preceded or conflicted with the publication dates as reflected in various statutory instruments and notifications. It was determined that the petitioner’s challenge, which relied primarily on publication dates instead of the actual dates of the minister’s orders, did not provide sufficient