Korana Mudiyanselage Gama Walawwe Abeysinghe Bandara vs Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower – CA WRIT/29/2013-2015

In the case between Korana Mudiyanselage Gama Walawwe Abeysinghe Bandara (petitioner) and the Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower, Commissioner of Labour, and Ceylon Electricity Board (respondents), the primary legal issue concerned the issuance of a Writ of Certiorari to quash an arbitral award which denied the petitioner’s claim for back wages after reinstatement. The court determined that acceptance of reinstatement by the petitioner on the terms recommended by the Political Victimization Committee and approved by Cabinet—explicitly “without any financial implications”—precluded entitlement to back wages. The principle that parties cannot approbate and reprobate on the same transaction was reaffirmed, emphasizing that accepting reinstatement under these terms barred future claims