Suppaiah Wijeratnam vs Sarath Perera – SC APPEAL NO. 196/2015-2015

In the case between Suppaiah Wijeratnam (Plaintiff-Respondent-Petitioner) and Sarath Perera (Defendant-Appellant-Respondent), the court addressed the issue of land ownership, specifically whether the defendant’s repudiation of a tenancy and claim of prescriptive title precluded a tenancy remedy under the Rent Act and warranted recovery of possession through a rei vindicatio action. It was held that upon proof of lawful acquisition and transfer of title to the petitioner, the defendant’s refusal to attorn and subsequent assertion of independent title amounted to a repudiation of the landlord-tenant relationship, rendering the defendant a trespasser. The onus then shifted to the defendant to establish adverse possession, which was not discharged. The finding reaffirmed the principle that whe