Gnanawathie Abeysekera vs. Sirisena Jayalath et al. – CA CASE NO.654/96 F -1996

In the case between Gnanawathie Abeysekera (Plaintiff) and Sirisena Jayalath, Hewa Bethmage Rathnasoma, Jayalathge Jayasena, and others (Defendants), the court addressed whether a typographical error in the District Judge’s judgment, concerning allocation of a land share in a partition action, could be corrected on appeal. It was held that the District Court judgment contained an error by allotting a share to the 14th Defendant rather than the 17th Defendant, where the body of the judgment had made clear the entitlement of the 17th Defendant and not the 14th. The court reaffirmed that under Section 773 of the Civil Procedure Code, the appellate courts possess the authority to correct clerical or typographical errors to reflect the true intention of the decision. The judgment emphasized the