Kusuma Wijetunga vs Anura Silva Abeyratne – SC APPEAL 36/2011-2025

In the case between Anura Silva Abeyratne (Plaintiff-Appellant) and Kusuma Wijetunga, Sudirikku Hennedige Nilupul, and related parties (Defendants-Respondents-Appellants), the court addressed whether the deed (P-1) associated with a Rs. 40,000 loan was fraudulent, the standard of proof necessary to establish fraud in a civil transaction, the applicability of the doctrine of laesio enormis due to a significant disparity between property value and contract price, and the evidentiary significance of exchanged letters between parties. It was held that the plaintiff failed to establish fraud to the requisite standard, and that laesio enormis did not apply. The court reaffirmed that fraud, though tried in a civil context, requires very strong evidence surpassing the balance of probabilities. The