Kankanamlage Nandadasa vs. Kodagoda Hitige Jinadasa – CA NO.761/99 F -1999

The case between Kankanamlage Nandadasa (Plaintiff-Appellant) and Kodagoda Hitige Jinadasa with substituted defendants (Defendant-Respondent) addressed whether the defendant acquired prescriptive title to the entirety of the property in question, thereby extinguishing the plaintiff’s claimed co-ownership share. It was held that the requirements for establishing prescriptive acquisition among co-owners are stringent and require clear proof of ouster, not merely long possession or secret intention. The principles reaffirmed include the presumption of joint possession among co-owners and the need for unequivocal hostile possession to establish acquisition by prescription, as established in *Corea v. Iseris Appuhamy* and *Gunawardena v. Samarakoon*. The findings emphasized that a failure to pr