Amerasinghe Arachchige Don Dharmaratne v. Dodangodage Premadasa – SC APPEAL NO. 158/2013-2016

In the case between Amerasinghe Arachchige Don Dharmaratne (Plaintiff-Respondent-Appellant) and Dodangodage Premadasa, Dodangodage Premalatha, Dodangodage Dayawathi, Dodangodage Amaraseeli Mallika, and Dodangodage Harindranatha (Defendants-Appellants-Respondents), the court addressed the issue of whether the plaintiff had established a valid chain of title to land in a rei vindicatio action by proving the due execution of three key deeds as required under Section 68 of the Evidence Ordinance. It was held that the plaintiff failed to properly prove the execution of the crucial deed (P5) and did not discharge the requisite evidentiary burden with respect to the other deeds. The principle reaffirmed was that in actions based on title to land, strict proof of execution and admissibility of not