Divithotawela Konara Mudiyanselage Dammika Nayanakantha vs. National Housing Development Authority – CA (Writ) Application No: 431/2019-2024

In the case between Divithotawela Konara Mudiyanselage Dammika Nayanakantha (Plaintiff) and the National Housing Development Authority, Divisional Secretariat (Kesbewa), Urban Development Authority, and Attorney-General (Defendants), the court addressed the petitioner’s entitlement to relief by way of writs (certiorari, prohibition, and a demolishing order) against decisions relating to public construction undertaken on Lot 2, a State-owned reservation adjacent to the petitioner’s Lot 3B. It was determined that the exercise of writ jurisdiction under Article 140 was not warranted, as the impugned decisions were implemented long prior to the petition and alternative remedies were available. The holding reaffirmed the principle that discretionary writ jurisdiction should not be exercised whe