Sri Lanka Transport Board v. S.P. Kusumawathie – CA NO.456/98 F -2015

In the case between S.P. Kusumawathie (Substituted-Plaintiff-Respondent) and Sri Lanka Transport Board, Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Environment & Women Affairs, Registrar of Companies, and Attorney General (Defendants/Appellants), the court addressed the lawfulness of the plaintiff’s removal from the post of Director in the first defendant company and the entitlement to damages arising from such removal. The holding established that damages cannot be awarded where termination is found lawful and that the Secretary to the Treasury is not a juristic person against whom damages can be granted. The principle reaffirmed is that damages and related relief cannot be allowed when the underlying claim lacks legal basis due to a lawful terminatio