Free Lanka Trading, Co. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Labour – sllr 1982 volume 1 page 097

In the case between Free Lanka Trading Co. Ltd. and the Commissioner of Labour, the court addressed whether Section 38(3) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, as amended, precludes the Magistrate from examining or questioning the correctness of a certificate issued by the Commissioner of Labour for default in contribution payments. It was held that the Magistrate is empowered to examine specified legal objections raised by the alleged defaulter, and that the conclusiveness of the certificate does not immunize it from such limited judicial scrutiny. The principle reaffirmed is that statutory certificates, while having evidentiary value, do not bar judicial evaluation on enumerated legal grounds. Reliance was placed on comparative statutory analysis and prior judgments, underscoring that st