Kahatiravelu Manickam vs Alagu Pambayan Sethuraman – CA PHC 120/2005-2018

In the case between Kahatiravelu Manickam, Annamalai Muthappan Chattiar, and others (Appellants) and Alagu Pambayan Sethuraman, Joseph Anthony Soris Fernando, Ponnusamy Subramaniam, and others (Respondents), the court addressed whether the Provincial High Court was justified in setting aside the Primary Court’s order regarding possession of disputed religious premises based solely on the absence of an attempted settlement under Section 66(6) of the Primary Court Procedure Act No 44 of 1979. It was determined that a Primary Court order should not be vitiated merely by such procedural omission. The decision reaffirmed that the Provincial High Court’s revisionary jurisdiction is narrowly confined to assessing legality, propriety, or procedural regularity. Reference was made to prior authority