Sampath Subasinghe Arachchi v. Watawala Plantation PLC – CA MC/RV/24/2014-2022

In the case between Sampath Subasinghe Arachchi, The Chairman, Land Reform Commission (Applicant) and Watawala Plantation PLC (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of jurisdiction concerning revision applications against Magistrate’s Court orders made under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 07 of 1979. It was held that Provincial High Courts possess appellate and revisionary jurisdiction under Article 154P(3)(b) of the Constitution regarding such matters, even though they are excluded from exercising writ jurisdiction under Article 154P(4). The decision reaffirmed the principle that procedural challenges to Magistrate’s Court orders relating to State lands fall within the High Court’s revisionary purview. The court relied on statutory interpretation of the Constitution