Shavin Nona vs. Wickramasinghe and Others – sllr 2012 volume 2 page 400

In the matter between Shavin Nona (plaintiff respondent) and Wickramasinghe and others (including the 4th defendant appellant), the court examined whether a trial judge, under Section 48 of the Partition Act, possesses the jurisdiction to set aside an interlocutory decree on the basis of a clerical or arithmetical mistake. It was determined that the statutory power to correct is strictly limited to addressing clerical or arithmetical errors and does not extend to invalidating or annulling an interlocutory decree. Reference was made to precedents such as Ittapana v. Hemawathie, Salim v. Salim, and Sivapathalingam v. Sivasubramaniam, reinforcing the interpretation that judicial authority to “repair” such errors does not encompass setting aside one’s own prior decisions. The outcome resulted