Abdul Fareed Mohamed Malikge Nawaz and others vs Indrani Bopage – SC APPEAL 92/2014-2024

In the case between Bopage Martin and Indrani Bopage (plaintiffs) and Abdul Fareed Mohamed Malikge’s children operating as New Lanka Stores (defendants), the court addressed the legal issues of proper identification of leased premises, allocation of the burden of proof in civil tenancy disputes, and the applicability of estoppel precluding a tenant from disputing the landlord’s title. It was held that identification of the premises was consistently established in evidence, the burden rested on the plaintiff to prove breach of contractual tenancy rather than title, and the doctrine of estoppel barred the defendants from contesting the landlord’s title. Affirming established authority on landlord-tenant law and relying on relevant principles of contract and estoppel, it was determined that t