Dayana and Others vs. Secretary, Ministry of Education, Southern Province and Others – sllr 2019 volume 3 page 307

In the case of Dayana and Others (petitioners, graduates from the Southern Province) vs. Secretary, Ministry of Education, Southern Province and Others, the issue concerned the legality of the recruitment scheme for teachers adopted by the Southern Provincial Council on a Divisional Secretariat basis. The challenge was raised against the deviation from the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Service Minutes, which prescribed recruitment on a Merit or School basis. It was determined that the Provincial Council’s scheme, although not strictly in line with national policy, did not violate the principles of rationality or constitutional equality and was within the permissible discretion conferred under Section 32(3) of the Provincial Councils Act. The court emphasized that unless the scheme could be shown to