Nallathamby Chandra vs Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC and others – SC CHC Appeal No. 32/2008-2024

Plaintiff and Defendant: Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka PLC (Plaintiff-Respondent) vs. Maheshwari Nallathamby, Nallathamby Kumarachandran (2nd Defendant-Appellant), and Nallathamby Chandra (3rd Defendant-Appellant).
Key Legal Issues: Recovery of a bill discounting facility, validity of claims against deceased defendant, misjoinder of causes of action, non-presentation of Bill of Exchange, and applicability of Tesawalamai law to the 3rd Defendant’s mortgage bonds.
Key Points and Events: The Plaintiff-Bank sought to recover Rs. 8,307,207.19 from the defendants. The 2nd Defendant admitted obtaining the facility but claimed to have settled over Rs. 5.3 million. The 3rd Defendant argued that her mortgage bonds lacked legal validity due to the absence of her husband’s consent under Tesawalamai law.