Namugoda Wijesinghe Atapattu Mudiyanselage Undawatte Keerthi Kumara Edward Weerasinghe vs. Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment – CA/WRT/821/23-2024

In the case between Namugoda Wijesinghe Atapattu, Mudiyanselage Undawatte Keerthi Kumara Edward Weerasinghe, Upcountry Manpower Agency (Pvt) Ltd (Plaintiffs) and Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, and the Attorney General (Defendants), the court examined whether the petitioners, operating a foreign employment agency, were entitled to mandamus relief concerning the non-renewal of their license. The holding determined that the application for mandamus was dismissed, as the petitioners failed to exhaust the alternative statutory remedy available under Sections 37(1) and 33(1) of the governing statutes. The court emphasized the principle that judicial intervention through mandamus is unwarranted when statu