Hettige Dona Dayawathie vs Hettige Don Hendrick – 148/98-2013

In the case between Hettige Dona Dayawathie (Substituted-Plaintiff-Appellant) and Hettige Don Hendrick, Hettige Don Tilakasiri, Hettige Don Kalyanaratna (Defendant-Appellants) and others, the principal legal issue concerned whether the corpus in a partition action should encompass both Lots A and B of Preliminary Plan No. 2003, or whether Lot B comprised a distinct land not subject to partition. The appellate court determined that the District Judge’s exclusion of Lot B was procedurally flawed due to improper assessment of boundary evidence, inadequate evaluation of the full evidentiary record, and failure to precisely allocate the burden of proof. It was established that a de novo trial was necessary to ensure proper judicial evaluation consistent with the requirements for partition actio