Ranil de Silva vs. Director, General Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department and others – WRIT APPLICATION NO: 155/2014-2022

In the case between Ranil de Silva (Plaintiff) and the Director–General, Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, Gamini Hewage (Acting Director), and Poojitha Prabath Weerawardena (Defendants/Respondents), the court addressed the legality of the issuance of permit P23 under section 14 of the Coast Conservation Act, where deviations from coastal setback standards were alleged, as well as claims regarding environmental harm, public access rights, and procedural irregularities. It was determined that the petitioner lacked both the locus standi and the timeliness required to invoke judicial review, thereby upholding that the administrative decision to grant the permit remained valid. The holding reaffirmed the principle that purely private interests do not confer standin