Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Sanjeewa Bandara Vs. Officer in Charge, Police Station, Ratnapura – CA PHC/230/2018-2022

In the case between Officer in Charge, Police Station, Ratnapura (Complainant-Respondent) and Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Sanjeewa Bandara (2nd Party Petitioner-Appellant), with Alapatha Manannalage Nandawathie (1st Party Respondent), the court addressed whether the 1st Party Respondent was entitled to a right of way through land owned by the 2nd Party Petitioner-Appellant under Section 69 of the Primary Courts’ Procedure Act No.44 of 1979. The sequence of proceedings included a Magistrate’s order recognizing the Respondent’s right of way, affirmed by the High Court, and a subsequent appeal. It was held that the Respondent evidenced longstanding use of the pathway and that the alternative access asserted by the Appellant was not sufficiently reliable. The legal principle reaffirmed was that, i