Fernando vs Iamperumal – clr volume 2 page 088

In the cases of P. C. Colombo and Fernando v. Iamperumal, and P. C. Colombo and Selelstina v. Perera, the court addressed whether an appeal may be taken against a police magistrate’s refusal to make a maintenance order under Ordinance No. 19 of 1889. The central issue concerned if the police magistrate’s dismissal of the application (“no order”) precludes appellate review. It was held that an appeal cannot be sustained from such a dismissal, reaffirming the principle that the right to appeal must be grounded expressly in statute. This outcome relied on the construction of sections 8 and 17 of the Maintenance Ordinance, emphasizing that the absence of an order as specified in the statute renders the proceedings not appealable except through avenues provided for the Attorney-General.

Burnsi