COLOMBO — A former diploma student at the University of Colombo has filed a lawsuit seeking Rs. 5 million in damages, alleging examination irregularities, arbitrary marking and retaliation by lecturers.
Sanath Kumara Athukorala filed the action in the Nugegoda District Court, naming several current and former university officials and lecturers as defendants.
Athukorala was enrolled in the 2022/23 Advanced Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management programme offered by the university’s Faculty of Management and Finance.
According to sources familiar with the court filing, Athukorala says problems arose during his second semester, particularly over two subjects: Operations Management for Small Business, identified as subject 508, and Business Strategy and Sustainability, subject 510.
Athukorala alleges that the lecturer responsible for subject 508 asked, through another student, for Rs. 80,000 to be deposited into her bank account because she was in urgent need of money. He says he refused.
He also refers to an incident during a two-day workshop in Kiriella in May 2024. Athukorala alleges that he refused a request to allow the lecturer’s husband, who was not connected to the university, to stay in his room.
Athukorala claims that the lecturer subsequently became hostile toward him and gave him low marks, causing him to fail subject 508.
He also alleges that questions appearing in an examination paper had been disclosed to another group of students before the examination.
Athukorala has made separate allegations concerning a group project for subject 510. He claims students were required to contribute money towards the project and that some students who did not actively participate nevertheless received full marks.
Reports of the case give conflicting figures for the amount students were allegedly required to contribute, and Jaffna Monitor could not independently establish the amount.
From a Fail to a Pass
Results released in January 2025 showed that Athukorala had failed. He subsequently complained to the university administration.
A later results sheet showed Athukorala and several other students as having passed.
Athukorala says no repeat examination was held between the two sets of results and has questioned how students initially recorded as having failed were later listed as having passed.
He says complaints about the alleged irregularities were also made to senior university officials and to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.
Athukorala says the episode cost him time, money and opportunities and caused him humiliation among his fellow students. He is seeking Rs. 5 million in damages.
Those named as defendants reportedly include current and former vice chancellors of the University of Colombo, senior officials of the Faculty of Management and Finance, lecturers associated with the programme, an examinations official and the Attorney General.
The claims are allegations made in the civil action before the Nugegoda District Court.
