Don Sarath Rajapaksha vs. Susantha Aththanayake and Hon. Attorney General – CA WRIT/374/2022-2022

In the case between Don Sarath Rajapaksha (Plaintiff) and Susantha Aththanayake, Divisional Secretary, Dickwella and Hon. Attorney General (Respondents), the legality of the quit notice issued under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 7 of 1979, as amended, and the sufficiency of long-term occupation (prescriptive title) as a challenge to such notice were examined. The court held that the petitioner failed to establish a prima facie case for issuance of writs against the quit notice, reaffirming the principle that statutory procedures for recovery of state lands under the Act supersede claims based on mere occupation, absent specific statutory exceptions. Reliance was placed on precedents and the statutory amendments (especially Amendment Act No. 29 of 1983), emphasizing stric