Samadeepa Samaja Kendraya v. Commissioner of Labour – CA PHC APN 113/2013-2015

In the case between the Commissioner of Labour, Labour Department, Colombo 05 (Plaintiff) and Samadeepa Samaja Kendraya District Centre, Anuradhapura (Defendant), the court addressed whether a certificate issued under Section 8(2) of the Payment of Gratuity Act for the recovery of gratuity is final and conclusive, or whether the employer can contest the calculation of the amount before the Magistrate’s Court. It was held that such a certificate constitutes prima facie, but not conclusive, evidence of the amount due, granting the employer the right to rebut the stated sum by leading further evidence. This reaffirmed the principle that, in the absence of an explicit statutory bar, employers retain the right to challenge the quantum of liability in legal proceedings under the Act. The decisio