Abans Retail (Pvt) Ltd. vs H.N. Jayaratne Bandara – SC APPEAL 106/2011-2011

In the case between Abans Retail (Pvt) Ltd. (Plaintiff) and H.N. Jayaratne Bandara (Defendant), the court addressed the issue of whether the Commercial High Court erred in refusing the application by the Plaintiff-Petitioner to amend its plaint under Section 93(1) of the Civil Procedure Code. It was held that the amendment, intended to clarify the Plaintiff’s status and relationship to the Defendant, did not alter the character of the original action. The court reaffirmed the principle that bona fide amendments that do not cause injustice to the opposing party should be permitted to facilitate the administration of justice. This conclusion relied on established precedents such as Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co v. Grindlay’s Bank Ltd and Cassim Lebbe v. Natchiya and emphasized the discretionary p