Henpitage Justin vs Mahathun Atapaththu – CA 423/99-2013

In the case between Henpitage Justin and Mahathun Atapaththu, Manager, Bank of Ceylon, and Yahampath Arachchige Charlotte (as substituted 3rd defendant-respondent), the appellate court addressed the issue of whether the 3rd defendant had acquired ownership of the entire land corpus through prescription, particularly focusing on ouster among co-owners in a partition action. It was held that the District Judge failed to properly evaluate the evidence and misapplied legal principles pertaining to prescription and ouster. The principle reaffirmed requires clear and overt evidence of ouster among co-owners to establish prescriptive title. Reliance was placed on established authorities emphasizing that co-owners’ rights cannot be extinguished without clear evidence of ouster. The decision unders