Dissanayake Gamini Ratnasiri vs Sri Lanka Ports Authority – SC APPEAL NO.212/12-2014

In the case between Dissanayake Gamini Ratnasiri (Applicant-Appellant) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Respondent), the Supreme Court addressed whether an employee initiating proceedings in the Labour Tribunal under Section 31B of the Industrial Disputes Act is required to provide one month’s notice to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority pursuant to Section 54 of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority Act. It was held that such a Labour Tribunal application constitutes an “action” under the statute, thereby invoking the statutory notice requirement. The principle reaffirmed is that statutory notice provisions extend to applications made before quasi-judicial forums when the legal definition of “action” so encompasses. The decision relied upon the statutory interpretation of both the Sri Lanka Ports Au