Munasinghe v. Somapala – sllr 2002 volume 2 page 052

In the case between Plaintiff-respondent (landowner) and Defendant-appellant (alleged tenant cultivator), the court addressed the issue of whether tenancy rights under the Agrarian Services Act are extinguished when a tenant cultivator subsequently becomes a usufructuary mortgagee of the same land. It was held that tenancy rights previously acquired by the appellant were not extinguished by virtue of him being named usufructuary mortgagee, and such rights can only be ceded in accordance with the prescribed statutory procedure. The principle was reaffirmed that statutory protection of tenant cultivators under sections 2, 11(2), 11(3), and 68 of the Agrarian Services Act is paramount, emphasizing that mere acquisition of mortgagee status cannot displace accrued tenancy rights except by statu