Pattiyagamage Lohitha Hashan v. W.T.B. Dissanayake and Others – CA WRIT 301/2016-2016

In the case between Pattiyagamage Lohitha Hashan (Petitioner) and W.T.B. Dissanayake (Divisional Forest Officer, Forest Department, Nuwara Eliya) and others (Respondents), the court addressed the issue of whether the Petitioner possessed a legal entitlement or legitimate expectation to remain on land previously associated with the Walapane Apple Growers Cooperative Society. It was held that the Petitioner, neither an original member nor entitled by valid succession, failed to establish legal rights or legitimate expectation to the land in question, and that government documentation substantiated the land’s status as recoverable by the Forest Department. The principle reaffirmed was that possession based on cooperative society membership or subsequent succession does not independently creat