Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Hanguranketha vs D.M.W.G. Danepola et al. – CA PHC 21/2014-2022

In the case between the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Hanguranketha and D.M.W.G. Danepola, A.C.D. Ariywansa Fonseka, A.M. Sudumanika, D.M.M. Ranmanika, and Dinesh Kulathunga, the court addressed whether the Primary Court’s order, as affirmed by the High Court, erred in restricting a right of way to 3 feet wide based on a District Court’s interim injunction, despite a previous Primary Court interim order granting a 10-foot right of way. The holding determined that the lower courts misapplied the doctrine of concurrent jurisdiction and unduly deferred to interim District Court orders which did not conclusively affect the Magistrate’s powers under Section 66 of the Primary Courts’ Procedure Act No. 44 of 1979. Key legal principle reaffirmed was that pending or incomplete civil proceeding