Jayawardena vs Sampath Bank Ltd and Another – sllr 2005 volume 2 page 340

In the case between Jayawardena (Petitioner) and Sampath Bank Ltd and another, the court addressed whether a bank was entitled to exercise parate execution against property mortgaged to secure a loan obtained by a third party, the application of the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) Act No. 4 of 1990, and the impact of subsequent judicial decisions on res judicata and the doctrine of laesio enormis. It was held that the plaintiff’s attempt to re-litigate an issue previously adjudicated was impermissible, and that the law as effective at the time of the original decision must prevail. The decision reaffirmed that the doctrine of res judicata precludes re-agitation of the same cause of action and clarified the temporal application of overruled precedents. Costs were fixed and t