Manikka Hetti Mudalige Nicholas Cansious Perera Vs. Commissioner General of Inland Revenue and Others – CA WRT/390/19-2019

In the case between Manikka Hetti Mudalige Nicholas Cansious Perera (operating as MH Mudalige Warehousing) and various officials of the Department of Inland Revenue, including the Commissioner General, the court addressed whether the petitioner’s appeal concerning an income tax assessment for the 2015/2016 Year of Assessment complied with Section 165(4) of the Inland Revenue Act No. 10 of 2006, specifically in relation to the timing of tax payment. It was held that the appeal was not compliant due to the delay in payment, and that a Writ of Mandamus could not be issued to compel the acknowledgment of a non-compliant appeal, as such powers are discretionary and not obligatory. The decision reaffirmed the principle that writs do not lie against discretionary actions, relying on established c