Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Heen Menika vs. Weerasuriya Arachchilage Noris Banda and Siriwardena Disanayake – SC APPEAL NO.36/2016-2016

In the case between the heirs of Heen Menike (notably 1a to 1h Plaintiffs) and Noris Banda, Siriwardena Dissanayake, and others, the court examined whether abatement of an action under Section 402 of the Civil Procedure Code was properly applied in circumstances where only the main substituted plaintiff received proper notification, and not the other substituted heirs. Central to the dispute was a conditional property transfer linked to a loan, followed by noncompliance with the agreed retransfer, resulting in litigation. During proceedings, procedural irregularities arose when the main heir did not notify the other substituted heirs, leading to an order of abatement. It was determined that the procedural lapse should not disadvantage the uninformed substituted heirs (1b to 1h Plaintiffs),