Sirimewan Maha Mudalige Kalyani Sirimewan vs. Herath Mudiyanselage Gunarath Manike and others – SC/APPEAL/48/2017-2024

In the case between Sirimewan Maha Mudalige Kalyani (plaintiff/appellant) and Herath Mudiyanselage Gunarath Manike, Herath Mudiyanselage Ranil Suriya Bandara (minor), and the Registrar of the District Court, Kuliyapitiya (defendants/respondents), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether the plaintiff’s action seeking cancellation of certain deeds was prescribed under the Prescription Ordinance, with specific focus on the starting point for the prescription period and the propriety of allowing the plea of prescription to be introduced at the appellate stage. It was held that the running of time for prescription does not commence merely upon execution of the deeds but from the time the plaintiff had knowledge, or ought reasonably to have had knowledge, of their existence. The decisio