Rev. Urulewatte Dhammakiththi Thero vs Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs – CA WRIT/494/23-2023

In the case between Rev. Urulewatte Dhammakiththi Thero, Trustee of Humbuluwa Rajamaha Viharaya (Plaintiff), and several state officials including the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs, Mrs. P.C.D. Sigera, S. Sivanantharajah, Dammika Ekanayake, Mrs. R.A.A.S. Unita, Mrs. P.D.S.K Gunapala, the Chairman of the Land Reforms Commission, and the Attorney General (Defendants), the court addressed the issue of whether state officials had failed in their statutory duty to conduct a survey of temple land, for which the temple’s title had already been granted by a District Court judgment. It was held that the requirements for a Writ of Mandamus had not been satisfied, as there was no unequivocal refusal by the relevant authorities to perform the statutory duty, and an alternative legal remedy through