Hettiarachchige Chandana Kumarasinghe vs R.D Somadasa – CA PHC 0035/2016-2022

In the case between Hettiarachchige Chandana Kumarasinghe (Additional Commissioner of Agrarian Service, Agrarian Development District Office, Gampaha) and R.D Somadasa and R.D Sumanarathna, the primary issue was whether revisionary jurisdiction could be exercised by the Provincial High Court to overturn or revise the Magistrate’s Court conviction for obstruction of an agricultural road under the Agrarian Development Act. The court established that revisionary powers are limited to reviewing matters of legality, propriety, or regularity rather than functioning as a full appeal, and that intervention is restricted to exceptional circumstances. After considering relevant statutory provisions (notably Section 90(4) of the Agrarian Development Act and Section 364 of the Code of Criminal Procedu