Petrus Verheul vs Singappulige Premalal – CA NO.05/TR/2015-2015

In the case between Petrus Verheul (Plaintiff-Petitioner) and Singappulige Premalal, P.A. Palliyaguru, Registrar of Lands, Kalutara (Defendant-Respondents), the court addressed the issue of whether a transfer of District Court Case No. 5377/L from Kalutara to Colombo was warranted under Article 138(2) of the Constitution and Section 46 of the Judicature Act. It was held that the plaintiff was not entitled to the transfer, as the application failed to prove that conditions for transfer such as risk of unfair trial, proven bias, or significant inconvenience had been met. The principle reaffirmed is that the discretionary power of the Court to transfer cases should only be exercised upon clear and compelling evidence of prejudice or substantial risk to fairness. This decision relied on releva