Abeynayake and Others v. Richard Pathirana, Minister of Education and Higher Education and Others – sllr 2003 volume 1 page 362

In the case between Abeynayake and Others (petitioners, members of the Academic Staff of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka) and Richard Pathirana, Minister of Education and Higher Education (and others), the court addressed whether the Minister possessed lawful authority to appoint a Competent Authority—specifically Professor P. Wilson, a layperson and not a Buddhist monk—amid an administrative crisis at the University. It was held that the Minister’s action was reasonable and exercised within the statutory mandate, particularly under sections 39B(4)(b) and related provisions of the Buddhist and Pali University Act. The court reaffirmed the principle that judicial review is directed at evaluating the legality of the decision-making process rather than substituting its own view