Sri Lanka Principals’ Service Grade 1 Officers’ Association & Others vs. Public Service Commission & Others – SC FR NO. 572/08-2011

In the case between the Ceylon Teachers Union and Grade 1 Officers of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Service (Petitioners) and the Public Service Commission, the Secretary, Ministry of Education, and the Attorney General (Respondents), the court addressed whether the failure to fill Class III vacancies in the Sri Lanka Educational Administrative Service (SLEAS) under the merit category, as stipulated in the 1986 Service Minute, violated Article 12(1) of the Constitution. It was held that the Petitioners’ grievance was time barred and that the recruitment process was properly conducted under the 2002 Circular, which replaced the earlier 1986 procedure. The principle reaffirmed was that claims arising from superseded administrative acts that are not challenged within a reasonable time are not ent