Habarana Lodge Limited vs M D C Amarathunga et al. – C A WRIT APPLICATION NO. 236/2015-2015

In Habarana Lodge Limited v. M D C Amarathunga (Commissioner General of Labour) and others, the court addressed the liability of the Petitioner to pay statutory gratuity to a former employee under the Payment of Gratuity Act No. 12 of 1983, including the adequacy of the Labour authorities’ inquiry and the availability of writ remedies. It was held that the Labour inquiry procedure was legally sufficient, having ensured natural justice and a fair opportunity to be heard, and that any live factual dispute regarding gratuity eligibility was properly referable to the Magistrate’s Court, not writ jurisdiction. The court reaffirmed the principle that unless a statute prescribes a specific inquiry procedure, compliance with natural justice suffices. The judgment drew on statutory interpretation a