S. A. Waas Gunawardena and others Vs. K. E. Joseph Elmo Fernando – CA 723/1998-1998

In Michael Conelius de Silva Abeywickrema Wijeyanayake (Plaintiff-Respondent, later substituted by K. E. Joseph Elmo Fernando) v. P. Don Robert Gladston Albert (deceased) and S. A. Waas Gunawardena (Defendants-Appellants), the key issue was whether the Defendants-Appellants, who are close family members, acquired title by prescription under Section 3 of the Prescription Ordinance to property inherited by the Plaintiff, where occupation arose from a family arrangement. It was held that the Defendants had not established adverse possession as required for prescriptive title; their occupation was found to be permissive, lacking the elements of ouster or a demonstrably hostile claim. The principle reaffirmed is that familial occupation by permission does not constitute adverse possession unles