S.K.Osman Pathamasiri Vs Lanka Rest Houses Limited and others – CA WRIT APPLICATION NO. 425/2017-2018

In the case between S.K. Osman Pathamasiri (Petitioner) and Lanka Rest Houses Limited, its Chairman and Directors, and the Urban Development Authority (Respondents), the Court of Appeal considered whether the Petitioner was entitled to Writs of Certiorari to quash the Respondents’ decisions to require vacation of the Weligama Rest House premises at the end of the management period, and whether a legitimate expectation of renewal or right to a hearing arose. It was held that no legitimate expectation of renewal was established, no right to a hearing attached to the expiry decision, and that the dispute was contractual in nature and not subject to writ jurisdiction. Established legal principles regarding the non-amenability of contractual disputes to judicial review were reaffirmed, drawing