Pathmawathie v. Jayasekare – sllr 1997 volume 1 page 248

In the case of Pathmawathie (plaintiff-respondent) v. Jayasekare (defendant-appellant), the court addressed whether a divorce on grounds of malicious desertion and cruelty was valid when the issues adjudicated extended beyond those presented in the pleadings. It was determined that judicial authority is confined strictly to the issues framed by the parties, and that extending inquiry beyond the pleadings constitutes a jurisdictional error. The lower court’s decision granting divorce based on malicious desertion was set aside on appeal, with costs ordered against the plaintiff-respondent. This holding reaffirmed the principle that courts must limit their findings to the litigated and properly pleaded issues, thereby maintaining the sanctity of the adversarial system and ensuring parties hav