W. Ashoka Jennet Silva vs Urban Development Authority – CA . 451/2008-2013

In W. Ashoka Jennet Silva v. Urban Development Authority & Others, the court was required to determine whether the local authority (3rd to 5th Respondents) held the requisite authority under the Urban Development Authority Act to issue a demolition order against the petitioner’s property and whether the Petitioner was entitled to Writs of Certiorari and Mandamus to quash the demolition order and regularize the building plan. It was concluded that the local authority, having been properly delegated authority under the Act, possessed jurisdiction to enforce demolition, and that, as the Petitioner had failed to contest the Magistrate’s demolition order, the request for writ relief was rendered futile. The doctrines established in Municipal Council v. Selvam and Jayasinghe v. Seethawakapura UC