Jayakody v. Sri Lanka Insurance and Robinson Hotel Co.Ltd. and Others – sllr 2001 volume 1 page 365

In the case between Jayakody (Plaintiff) and Sri Lanka Insurance, Robinson Hotel Co. Ltd, and others (Defendants), the court addressed whether the petitioner’s suspension by the 2nd Respondent constituted “executive or administrative action” actionable under Articles 12(1) and 126 of the Constitution. The key issue concerned the attribution of agency and whether the suspension, executed under the name of a private company but ultimately controlled by a state agency, fell within constitutional scrutiny. It was held that the 2nd Respondent—a state agency—remained responsible for acts performed by agents acting under its control, and such acts qualified as executive or administrative action. The decision reinforced the principle that state control, exercised directly or through complex corpor