Karunatilleka Jayasundera vs Land Reform Commission and others – 434/2019-2021

In the case between Karunatilleka Jayasundera Wickremasekera Rajapaksa Wahalanayaka Nisi Mudiyanselage Mahen Susantha Madugalle (Petitioner) and the Land Reform Commission, including its Chairman (Respondents), the court addressed the issue of whether the Land Reform Commission (LRC) possessed the legal authority to issue a Quit Notice under the State Land (Recovery of Possession) Act to evict the petitioner from a specific parcel of land, Pattiya Hena. It was held that the LRC’s title to the disputed land was in serious doubt, and as a result, the mechanisms under the State Land (Recovery of Possession) Act could not be properly invoked for eviction. The core principle reaffirmed is that summary eviction procedures are impermissible when State title to land is contested. The decision reli