Ellawela Pahalage Samanlatha et al. vs Vijemunige Gunawathi – CA PHC APN NO:10/2012-2012

In the case between Ellawela Pahalage Samanlatha and others (petitioners) and Vijemunige Gunawathi (respondent), the court addressed whether the Primary Court Judge possessed jurisdiction under the Primary Courts Procedure Act No. 44 of 1979 to adjudicate a dispute concerning a possible breach of the peace over land possession, or whether jurisdiction lay instead under the Agrarian Development Act No. 46 of 2000. The sequence of events involved the Primary Court Judge finding in favor of the respondent, the subsequent dismissal of the petitioners’ revision application by the High Court, and the filing of a further revision application to the Court of Appeal, despite an extant appeal. It was held that the original affidavits substantiated a likelihood of breach of peace, that the dispute fe