Metilda Ariyapperuma alias Ariyapperuma Arachchige Dona Metilda v. Hon. Janaka Bandara Tennakon et al. – CA WRIT/330/13-2021

In the case between Metilda Ariyapperuma alias Ariyapperuma Arachchige Dona Metilda (Petitioner) and Hon. Janaka Bandara Tennakon, Minister of Land and Land Development, along with state and private respondents, the legal issue centered on whether the acquisition of a portion of the petitioner’s land under the Land Acquisition Act, No. 09 of 1950, was lawful where an adequately specified public purpose was not provided. The court determined that the failure to clearly identify a genuine public purpose in the section 2 notice, as required by law, invalidated the acquisition proceedings. The holding reaffirmed that statutory preconditions for compulsory acquisition must be strictly observed, reaffirming the principle that compulsory deprivation of private property can only occur with explici