Weerasinghe Mudiyanselage Ekanayake Banda v. Divisional Secretary Ganewatta – CA APPLICATION NO.577/2011-2016

In the case between Weerasinghe Mudiyanselage Ekanayake Banda and Weerasinghe Mudiyanselage Rathnayake Banda (petitioners) and the Divisional Secretary, Ganewatta, Registrar of Land, Kurunegala, and others (respondents), the court addressed the validity of the Divisional Secretary’s actions in accepting the surrender of a State land grant and issuing new permits for the same land under the Land Development Ordinance and State Land Ordinance. The principal holding determined that an unregistered nomination does not confer a legally enforceable right under the Land Development Ordinance, and that a State grant issued by the President cannot be quashed by writ. The decision reaffirmed the statutory requirements for registration under sections 58(1) and 60 of the Land Development Ordinance, em