Ratnayake v. Bandara – sllr 1986 volume 1 page 245

In the case between Bandara (Defendant-appellant) and Ratnayake (Plaintiff-respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether a deed of gift (P1) executed under Kandyan law and described as “absolute and irrevocable” is in fact irrevocable, particularly after the abolition of fidei commissum by Law No. 20 of 1972. It was held that the deed is not automatically irrevocable despite its language, and the power of revocation remains unless the deed unequivocally renounces such a right in conformity with Kandyan legal requirements. This decision reaffirmed the principle that Kandyan law prescribes specific statutory language and procedural safeguards for irrevocability, which prevail over Roman-Dutch law concepts in such contexts. The holding relied on the Kandyan Law Declaration and Amendme