Talawakelle Plantations Ltd. vs Land Reform Commission – CA 608/09-2012

The case between Talawakelle Plantations Ltd., H.P.W. Vithanage, and the Land Reform Commission centered on whether a specific 7-acre portion of Moragalle Estate remained vested in the Land Reform Commission or had been fully transferred to the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, with subsequent lease rights claimed by Talawakelle Plantations Ltd. The court held that the application challenging the Land Reform Commission’s decision to lease the disputed land to a third party must be dismissed, reaffirming the principle that judicial review of administrative findings of fact is limited to manifest errors or perversity. This decision relied on precedents including Daganayasi v. Minister of Immigration and Pulhofer v. Hillingdon London Borough Council, emphasizing that a failure to subst