Factual matrix

The facts of the case briefly are as follows. The Petitioner alleges that the Petitioner is a company limited by guarantee and incorporated by the laws of Sri Lanka, and marked the certificate of incorporation as P1. It is further submitted that the affidavit annexed is by the Vice President of the Petitioner Association, who also happens to have a petrol distributing centre in Kaduwela. It is further alleged that the members of the Petitioner have petrol stations with due approvals and have invested a substantial amount of money to finance the setting up of their filling stations. It is the Petitioner’s contention that the owners of the filling stations have to satisfy certain requirements to obtain permission to operate a filling station or a petroleum dealership, and submit that they believe the same requirements need to be fulfilled to obtain a dealership with Lanka IOC.

The Petitioner alleges that in 2016, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had commenced a project with the University of Moratuwa to conduct a study to establish the criteria in selecting locations for new filling stations. For this purpose, a committee had been appointed. It is the Petitioner’s conten