Kalukumara Mudiyanselage Somapala and Kalukumara Mudiyanselage Anura vs. Hon. John A.E. Amarathunga et al. – CA WRIT APPLICATION 445/16-2021

In Kalukumara Mudiyanselage Somapala and Kalukumara Mudiyanselage Anura (Petitioners) v. Hon. John A.E. Amarathunga and Others (Respondents), the court addressed whether a writ of mandamus could compel State authorities to acquire land under the Land Acquisition Act for the establishment of the Andaragasyaya Wewa, and whether the Petitioners possessed a legitimate expectation regarding such an acquisition. It was held that neither a binding promise nor a lawful assurance in support of legitimate expectation was established, and that the State’s decision not to acquire the land lay within the scope of policy discretion, not subject to compulsion by the court. Reliance was placed on the absence of statutory or administrative justification and the lack of a recognized public policy basis for