Finlay Cold Storage (Private) Ltd. v. Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka et al. – CA WRIT APPLICATION NO.630/2011-2014

In the case between Finlay Cold Storage (Private) Ltd. and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Electricity Board, and others, the court addressed whether the petitioner’s refrigerated warehouse qualified as an “Industrial Installation” under the relevant Gazette Notification, thus entitling it to an Industrial Tariff for electricity. It was held that the warehouse, used primarily for cold storage and lacking any manufacturing process, did not meet the threshold for classification as an industrial installation. The principle reaffirmed is that only facilities involved in a manufacturing process may qualify for such tariff classification, in line with the interpretation of the Gazette Notification. This decision rested on expert technical evidence and a textual reading of th