Next Manufacturing (Pvt) Ltd. vs W.K.S. Jayasundara – SC APPEAL 139/2017-2020

In the case between Next Manufacturing (Pvt) Ltd. (Employer–Respondent/Appellant) and Ms. W.K.S. Jayasundara (Employee–Respondent), the court addressed whether a settlement reached under Section 12(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act constitutes a full and final settlement precluding the jurisdiction of the Labour Tribunal. The appellate inquiry centered on the Tribunal’s authority where the employee asserted that the settlement was executed without informed consent and under duress. It was held that a settlement arrived at under Section 12(1), provided with necessary procedural safeguards, bars further reference to the Labour Tribunal regarding the terms so agreed. The decision reaffirmed the principle that statutorily compliant settlements concluded before the Commissioner of Labour are bi