Rican Lanka (Private) Limited vs The Commissioner General of Labour – CA 411/2007-2012

The case between Rican Lanka (Private) Limited and the Commissioner General of Labour, Dewasiri Narayanage Thilini Madhushani, and others concerned whether an order by the Commissioner General of Labour, adverse to the Petitioner regarding termination of employment, could be quashed by writs of Certiorari and Prohibition. The court examined whether employment disputes involving a Board of Investment (BOI) company must be referred to arbitration rather than processed under the Termination of Employment of Workmen Act, No. 45 of 1971, and whether the Petitioner complied with mandatory statutory obligations prior to termination. It was determined that the Petitioner’s argument for arbitral reference was without substantive merit, the statutory procedural requirements for lawful termination ha