Officer in Charge v. Dinesh Sunanda Welagedara et al. – CA PHC/APN/88/2020-2020

In the case between Dinesh Sunanda Welagedara, Osanda Plantation (Pvt) Ltd., Dolosbage (1st Party) and Mulaweera Ralalage Dhammika Lakshani Abeyratne (2nd Party), the court addressed the issue of whether the 2nd Party could claim possession of an estate bungalow as her matrimonial home or whether her entry constituted forcible dispossession of the 1st Party. It was held that the 2nd Party’s entry was forcible and that the 1st Party, having been dispossessed within two months prior to the complaint under Section 66, was entitled to restoration of possession under Section 68(3) of the Primary Courts’ Procedure Act No. 44 of 1979. The decision reaffirmed that possessory remedies under the statute require the restoration of the status quo ante when forcible dispossession is established on the