Herbert S. Jayasuriya and Others vs. H. Sumanapala – NO. 193/2009-2011

In the case between Herbert S. Jayasuriya, Irshad N. Othman, S. Markandu (Committee of Management of the Dehiwela Mount Lavinia Cosmopolitan Sports Club) and H. Sumanapala, Commissioner of Local Government (Western Province), the court examined whether the Commissioner possessed lawful authority under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 7 of 1979 to issue a quit notice for the eviction of the Club from property occupied for over 80 years, and whether the notice itself was valid. The court held that the Commissioner was a competent authority to serve such notice and found the notice issued to be legally compliant, reaffirming the principle that statutory delegations under the Provincial Councils (Consequential Provisions) Act No. 12 of 1989 allowed provincial authorities to exe