Rasika Balasuriya vs. Dr. Mrs. T. A.R. J. Gunasekera and others – CA WRIT/364/2018-2022

In Rasika Balasuriya v. Dr. Mrs. T.A.R.J. Gunasekera (Director General, National Institute of Education) and others, the court addressed whether public law remedies of mandamus and certiorari may be granted in the context of a disputed service contract, where the Petitioner claimed breach due to Respondents’ refusal to release him from a Ph.D. sponsorship on health grounds. The application was dismissed on the basis that the dispute was contractual and not amenable to public law remedies, that the Petitioner suppressed material facts, failed to name a necessary party, and delayed action without justification. Established principles of administrative law were reaffirmed, limiting writ jurisdiction to matters involving the exercise of statutory power and not to disputes of a purely contractu