H.K. Ajith Pushpakumara et al. vs. P.M.P. Udayakantha et al. – SC APPEAL NO 85/2021-2024

In the case between Petitioner-Appellants (including registered surveyors and the Surveyors’ Institute) and Respondent-Respondents (including the Surveyor General, the Land Survey Council, and relevant government bodies), the issue concerned the statutory right of government surveyors employed by the Survey Department to engage in private land surveying practice under the Survey Act No. 17 of 2002. The court determined that government surveyors are not authorized to undertake private survey practice; the issuance of Field Staff Circular No. 05/2011 and the decision of the Land Survey Council to grant Annual Practising Licences to government surveyors were found to be ultra vires. Key legal principles centered on statutory interpretation of the Survey Act, the Establishments Code, and the l