Galdeniyalage Ukkuwa v. Galdeniyalage Jasintha – SC APPEAL NO.77/2013-2021

In the case between Galdeniyalage Ukkuwa (later substituted as Plaintiff-Respondent) and Galdeniyalage Podina, Parapayalage Devadasa, Parapayalage Karunawathie, and others (Defendants-Appellants), the court addressed the issue of entitlement to shares in ancestral land (Udawattehena) under Kandyan law inheritance. It was determined that the Plaintiff established sufficient legal basis for inheritance to a ½ share of the corpus as the sole male child, even without a birth certificate, and that the challenge to legitimacy under Kandyan customary marriage did not defeat the claim. The court reaffirmed the principle that the burden of proof in partition actions must be met considering the totality of the evidence and that the trial Court has a duty to examine title in partition cases but is no