Colombo Chief High Court Judge Manjula Karunaratne has dismissed the appeal filed by Asiri Hospital against the order of the former Chief Magistrate of Maligakanda, Lochani Abeywickrama Weerasinghe. The appeal challenged the ruling that the order passed by the Acting Magistrate of Maligakanda, Ms. Himali Ekanayake, in the case against Asiri Hospital and its directors for selling medicines at a higher price to an admitted patient, was correct.
The High Court noted that Acting Magistrate Ms. Ekanayake did not have a proper understanding of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, or that these provisions may have slipped from her memory at the time of issuing the order. Judge Karunaratne ruled that, given the circumstances, there was no option but to treat the Acting Magistrate’s order as one issued due to delay and error.
In the case, Acting Magistrate Ms. Ekanayake had imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000/- on 17 January 2024. The former Maligakanda Chief Magistrate, Ms. Weerasinghe, had filed an appeal seeking revision of this order issued on 11 July 2025.
The National Medicines Regulatory Authority was named as the respondent in the appeal filed by Asiri Hospital and its directors.
