Pannala Appuhamilage Gunasena vs Mahathun Gamage Podi Appuhamy – CA APPEAL NO.218/99F-2013

In the case between Pannala Appuhamilage Gunasena (Plaintiff/Respondent) and Mahathun Gamage Podi Appuhamy with Mahathun Gamage Lal Dharmasiri Jayawickrama (Defendants/Appellants), the court addressed whether the defendants’ appeal should proceed in the context of procedural failures, namely non-payment of appeal brief fees and inability to serve requisite notices due to the deaths and untraceability of parties. It was held that, given the failure to pay the brief fees and the non-prosecution of the appeal, the appeal was rejected under Rule 13(b) of the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal Appellate Procedure) Rules 1978, reinforcing that strict compliance with appellate procedural rules is mandatory for the continuation of an appeal. The decision highlighted the imperative for appellants to de