The Court of Appeal has issued an interim order suspending the scheduled appointments of medical laboratory technologists and physiotherapists by the Ministry of Health. The appointments, initially set to take place today (May 28), will remain on hold until June 11.

The court’s decision follows a petition filed by 270 graduates from the Allied Health Sciences stream, who claim that the recruitment process detailed in Gazette Notification No. 2389, dated April 27, is fundamentally unfair and non-transparent.

The petitioners argue that although the selection was supposed to be based on a competitive exam, the process failed to consider their academic qualifications and degree results. They specifically object to Clause 6 of the Gazette, which refers to recruitment based on “competency” — a term they claim was used to bypass merit-based hiring and disadvantage qualified candidates.

After reviewing the petition, a Court of Appeal bench consisting of Justices Mohamed Laffar Thahir and Priyantha Fernando issued the interim order halting the appointments.

Respondents in the case include Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, among others.

The petitioners are seeking a writ of prohibition to prevent the appointments from moving forward and are requesting a court order declaring the recruitment process invalid.

They are represented by Attorney-at-Law Rajiv Amarasuriya, instructed by the law firm Ramzi Bacha Associates.