Vajira lanaki Hettiarachchi Nethicumara vs Semage Ruwani Sumeda Wijeyewardena – 75/98-2014

The case between Semage Ruwani Sumeda Wijeyewardena (Respondent) and Vajira lanaki Hettiarachchi Nethicumara (Appellant) addressed the issue of whether the District Judge failed to adjudicate the defendant-appellant’s prescription claim, specifically if the action was time-barred. It was held that the earlier proceedings did not consider the issue of prescription; accordingly, a re-trial confined to this question was warranted. The principle reaffirmed is that a trial judge, as the direct assessor of evidence, must decide factual matters such as prescription rather than an appellate court determining these based solely on the record. Relevant procedural law and appellate principles were applied, with the appeal partly allowed, prior answers (save for issue No. 1) set aside, and instruction