Trade Exchange (Ceylon) Ltd v. Asian Hotels Corporation Ltd – sllr 1981 volume 1 page 067

In the case between Trade Exchange (Ceylon) Ltd. (plaintiff) and Asian Hotels Corporation Ltd. (defendant), the court addressed whether the respondent company, despite substantial government shareholding, constituted a public authority subject to judicial review by writ of certiorari. The petitioner challenged the refusal to renew a business licence, alleging arbitrariness and political discrimination, and argued that the respondent was exercising public functions. The court determined that the respondent was a distinct, commercially oriented body‐corporate with a separate legal personality and not a public authority for the purpose of writ jurisdiction. The appeal was dismissed, reaffirming that judicial review via prerogative writs is not available against decisions of independent corpor