Nimal Karunarathne vs. Leelawathi Jayawardena Rathnayake and others – CA PHC 157/2003-2018

In the case between Nimal Karunarathne, Leelawathi Jayawardena Rathnayake, and other parties relating to a land possession dispute, the court addressed whether the Primary Court properly determined possession of the disputed property under Sections 66 and 68 of the Primary Court Procedure Act, No. 44 of 1979, and the appropriateness of the Provincial High Court’s reversal of a Magistrate’s order concerning the removal of a fence. It was held that the Primary Court erred in its determination of possession, and the Provincial High Court had correctly decided that Leelawathi Jayawardena Rathnayake was in possession at the relevant time. The principle reaffirmed is that the determination of actual possession at the material point is governed by Section 68(1) of the Act in the absence of forcib