Peiris and Others vs. Commissioner General of Excise and Others – sllr 2020 volume 1 page 135

In the case between Peiris and Others (employees of the Excise Department) and the Commissioner General of Excise and Others, the court addressed the legality of transfer decisions (P38 and P39) executed by the Annual Transfer Committee. It was held that the transfers were ultra vires because they were not independently decided by the duly delegated authority, namely the 1st Respondent, as required by the governing rules. The judgment reaffirmed the principle that statutory powers conferred by delegation must not be abdicated to committees or subordinate bodies and that ouster clauses, such as that in Article 61A of the Constitution, do not preclude judicial review where fundamental rights and procedural requirements are violated. The decision relied on principles of administrative law and