K.H.M.S. Bandara v. Air Marshal G.D. Perera et al. – SC APPEAL 104/2008-2014

In the case between K.H.M.S. Bandara (Petitioner) and Air Marshal G.D. Perera, Group Captain K.A. Gunatilleke, Wing Commander Prakash Gunasekera, Wing Commander P.R. Perera, Mr. Ashoka Jayawardane, and the Attorney General (Respondents), the Supreme Court considered the legality of an Officer Cadet’s discharge from the Sri Lanka Air Force following summary disciplinary proceedings. The matter centered on whether the summary trial and subsequent discharge complied with the Air Force Act and the prescribed disciplinary procedures, particularly concerning the power to punish by discharge without a Court Martial. It was held that the process of summary punishment culminating in discharge was ultra vires the Act and constituted an improper exercise of statutory authority, though the costs previ