Daluwatte v. Premalatha – sllr 1998 volume 1 page 260

In Daluwatte v. Premalatha, the court addressed whether the premises occupied by the defendant constituted “excepted premises” under Regulation 3 set out in the schedule to the Rent Act, in light of their consolidation with two other units for assessment purposes by the local authority as of 1 January 1968. It was held that the administrative consolidation of three rent-controlled units into one assessment, resulting in an annual value exceeding Rs. 1,000, did not alter the status of the individual units, particularly where there were no physical or structural changes. Emphasis was placed on the long-standing separate assessment and rent control applicable to the defendant’s unit prior to consolidation. Pre-consolidation characteristics remained operative, so the unit did not fall within t