The Surveyors’ Institute of Sri Lanka v. The Surveyor General An Another – sllr 1994 volume 2 page 319

In the case between The Surveyors’ Institute of Sri Lanka and the Surveyor‑General and another, the court addressed whether the Surveyor‑General possessed authority under the Surveyors’ Ordinance to grant annual licences permitting Government Surveyors currently in service to engage in private practice. It was determined that, pursuant to the interpretation of sections 2, 4, 6, and 18 of the Ordinance, and the specific limitation imposed by section 18, such authority did not extend to serving officers. The schedule’s exemption was held applicable only to individuals who had ceased to hold office in the Survey Department. The Field Staff Circular No. 05/92, which invited applications for such annual licences from serving Government Surveyors, was ruled ultra vires and writs of certiorari an