Senior lecturer’s battle for justice wins record back wages

Court directs that the academic harassed by Colombo Uni authorities be paid Rs.17 million

In a landmark decision for the first time in Sri Lanka’s university history, a senior lecturer who was victimized by university authorities, is to be paid back wages amounting to some Rs.17 million after he was made jobless for more than 12 years from 2005.  
Senior lecturer Dr. Dammika Perera was reinstated with back wages after a 12-year battle for justice. The directives were issued by the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the University Services Appeal Board (USAB).  
University Council Chairman who is also Colombo University’s Vice Chancellor Senior Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake promptly instructed that the order of the USAB headed by the former Attorney General, Palitha Fernando be promptly carried out. The USAB ruled that former Council’s decision in 2005 to treat Dr. Perera as having vacated his post was both unfair and illegal and was a gross injustice perpetrated on the senior lecturer.  
In 2004 Dr. Perera, a senior lecturer attached to the Institute of Human Resource Advancement of Colombo University went to the Keio University in Tokyo on a Postgraduate research scholarship granted by the Japan Foundation. For this purpose, in 2001, Prof. Savithri Goonasekara, the then Vice Chancellor of the Colombo University had approved one year’s sabbatical leave. The senior lecturer was engaged in Japan in a postgraduate research study on the theme of “Impact of Automation on Industrial Relations in sea ports”, which was a comparative study among the sea ports of Felixstow in Britain, Port of Tokyo in Japan and the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.  
In 2005, the University Council presided over by the then Vice Chancellor (VC) considered him as having vacated his post though he went on the fellowship on approved leave. In an erroneous decision, the then University Council had ruled that Dr. Perera had vacated the post. The senior lecturer made an appeal to the then USAB but it was dismissed.  

Having failed with the appeal, in 2006 Dr. Perera filed a case before the Appeal Court against the dismissal of his appeal by the USAB. After four years of hearing, in 2010 the Court quashed the USAB decision and further insisted the USAB to reopen the case on merits that emerged in the process of the court hearings. The court of appeal judges observed that the senior lecturer had not left Sri Lanka without informing the University authorities and noted that the then vice chancellor had a personal animosity against him and therefore the decision taken by the then council headed by the Vice Chancellor was the outcome of a personal vendetta.  
However in 2010 the then Vice Chancellor of Colombo University, Kshanika Hiriburegama made an appeal to the Supreme Court against the Appeal Court decision. After another five years of legal battle in 2015, the SC dismissed the appeal of the university and affirmed the order of the Appeal Court. In its decision the Supreme Court observed that the university officials had deliberately designed and manipulated a conspiracy against the lecturer and ordered the USAB to finalize the case within three months. In addition the SC also ordered the university to pay Rs.50,000 to the lecturer.   

On the direction of the SC, the new USAB led by Palitha Fernando PC ruled that the decision by the Colombo University Council that Mr. Perera had vacated his post was both unreasonable and illegal. In his decision Mr. Fernando recommended to the present University Council to grant Dr. Perera, who was deprived of his service as an academic but left to battle against the injustice caused to him in the hands of university authorities the deserving relief, considering the illegal and unreasonable decision taken by the University Council in 2005.   
Acting on this decision and former rulings of the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court, the present Council of the University of Colombo headed by the Vice Chancellor and Senior Professor Lakshman Dissannayake decided to reinstate Dr. Perera with all his dues and arrears of wages over the period of twelve years and four months.   
Dr. Perera’s battle for justice is unprecedented in the university’s history.