Weerasooriya Arachchige Agnes vs. Mahadurage Hemapala and others – SC APPEAL 33/2005-2016

In the dispute between the Plaintiff-Petitioner, who purchased undivided shares in a partition action and was allotted a specific lot, and the Respondent, a long-term occupant asserting tenancy rights, the court addressed the admissibility and sufficiency of documentary evidence (notably document V27) regarding co-owners’ consent to tenancy. The legal issue centered on whether rent receipts and the historical tenancy, absent demonstrable unanimous consent among co-owners, allowed statutory protections under the Rent Act to defeat the enforcement of rights subsequent to a partition decree. It was held that, without consistent and conclusive evidence of agreement by all co-owners to the creation or continuation of the tenancy, the protections of the Rent Act could not be invoked by the Respo