Asoka De Mel Co. Ltd. v. W. Gunadasa – CA CASE NO. 671/1995-1995

In Asoka De Mel Co. Ltd. v. W. Gunadasa, the court addressed the entitlement to a parcel of land and an associated building, focusing on whether the Defendant had acquired prescriptive title by long, uninterrupted possession, or whether the Plaintiff’s paper title prevailed. The findings established that the Defendant and predecessors had possessed the property openly and continuously for over sixty years, and thus satisfied the requirements for prescriptive title under relevant statutory principles. It was emphasized that rights to a structure are inseparable from rights to the land it occupies. The court’s decision set aside the prior District Court judgment in favor of the Plaintiff and awarded title and costs to the Defendant, affirming that continuous and undisturbed possession outwei