M.N.R. Exports (Pvt) Ltd. v. K.P. Rangana Perera – CA WRIT APPLICATION NO.236/2012-2015

The case between M.N.R. Exports (Pvt) Ltd., M.H.M. Nazeer, and K.P. Rangana Perera, Divisional Secretary, Kalpitiya, addressed whether authority existed to issue a quit notice under the State Land (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 07 of 1979, treating the subject land as state land, and whether the Petitioners had established prescriptive title. It was held that the Petitioners failed to provide conclusive evidence of possession or identity of the land sufficient to support prescriptive title and that challenges to state title are properly determined by civil courts, not in writ proceedings. The holding reaffirmed the presumption of state title arising from Surveyor General’s plans as per the Surveys Act, emphasizing that disputes over title fall outside the scope of certiorari. The applica