David v. Gnanawathie – sllr 2000 volume 2 page 352

In DAVID v. GNANAWATHIE, the court considered the entitlement to a servitude of right of way, either by prescription or necessity, over land insufficiently described and wholly owned by the State under the Mahaweli Authority. It was held that a praedial servitude cannot be claimed by a party lacking ownership of the dominant tenement and that when both tenements are vested in the State, assertion of such a right is legally impermissible. Stringent requirements of Section 41 of the Civil Procedure Code mandating a precise description of the land claimed as servient were emphasized, and the doctrine that merger of ownership extinguishes servitudes was reaffirmed. The trial decision granting relief was set aside, the action against the defendant dismissed, and costs awarded to the defendant.