Attorney-General Vs. Chairman and the Chief Minister of the Provincial Council of the North Central Province – sllr 1997 volume 3 page 344

In the constitutional reference involving the Attorney-General and representatives of the North Central Provincial Council, the court addressed the validity of the Local Authorities Housing Statute No. 2 of 1995. The core issue concerned whether Sections 4(1) and 4(2) of the statute, along with its long title, were compatible with the Constitution. It was held that the statute was unconstitutional, as it improperly diminished the statutory powers granted to local authorities by compelling them to gift houses to tenants and failed to comply with Article 154G(8) regarding the description in its long title. The principle reaffirmed was that local authority powers cannot be diluted by provincial statutes contrary to express constitutional provisions. The decision relied on constitutional inter