Hettiarachchige Sarath Dayananda vs S.H. Kurukularachchi, et al. – 236/2018-2022

In the case between Hettiarachchige Sarath Dayananda (and others) and S.H. Kurukularachchi (and others), the court addressed whether the petitioners, as former employees and residents of houses constructed under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in Nuwara Eliya, were lawfully entitled to continue residing in those houses following the conclusion of the program. The primary legal issues revolved around the determination of legal authority over the properties, the legal status of the petitioners’ occupancy, the applicability of the Government Quarters (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 7 of 1969, and whether any legal right or legitimate expectation to remain existed. The findings established that the houses were transferred to the Central Provincial Council, qualified as “gove