A.A. Jeyaratnam v. Mrs T. Konesamany – CA NO. 764/99-1999

In the case between A.A. Jeyaratnam, Managing Trustee, Villoondy Kovil, Trincomalee (Plaintiff), and Mrs. T. Konesamany, 133 College Street, Trincomalee (Defendant), the court addressed the entitlement to declaration of title, ejectment, and possession of disputed land. The court held that possession initiated by leave or license from the plaintiff could not mature into prescriptive title under section 3 of the Prescription Ordinance without unequivocal evidence of adverse possession. It was affirmed that a licensee or lessee may not dispute the landlord’s title before surrendering possession, reaffirming the principle that adverse possession requires clear and hostile assertion against the true owner. This decision relied on precedents establishing that mere long occupancy by permission c