Asiri Medical Overpricing Case: Appeal Court Rejects Directors’ Petition

The Court of Appeal yesterday (10) dismissed an appeal filed by the Board of Directors of Asiri Medical Hospital, including Chairman Ashok Pathirage, on a procedural basis.

The petition sought to prevent the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court from proceeding with a case concerning the hospital’s prior guilty plea for violating the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) Act. The hospital had admitted to selling 11 pharmaceutical items above the stipulated Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva requested permission to hear the petitions, requesting that the order of the Maligakanda Court as well as a order by the Colombo High Court, to be set aside.

Deputy Solicitor General Lakmini Girihagama, appearing for the NMRA, raised a preliminary objection. She contended that the directors’ petition was, in effect, an attempt to appeal a previous appeal decision, which is impermissible in law.

The CoA bench, comprising Justices Shashi Mahendran and Amal Ranaraja, accepted the Deputy Solicitor General’s objection and dismissed the petition in limine (without a full hearing).

As a consequence of this dismissal, the directors, who were named as respondents alongside the NMRA and the Attorney General, are now required to attend the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court when the case is taken up on 12 November.