Abeyagoonewardene vs Andris – clr volume 3 page 071

In the case between the execution sale purchaser (plaintiff) and the private conveyance holder (defendant), the court addressed the issue of whether the prior registration of a mortgage entitles an execution sale purchaser to a title dating back to the mortgage date, therefore superseding a subsequent private conveyance from the mortgagor. It was held that in accordance with principles of Ceylon law, registration of a mortgage operates only as a charge on the land and does not transfer the estate itself, so that the purchaser at a judicial sale does not acquire a title that precedes a prior private conveyance registered after the mortgage. The legal principle reaffirmed is that the mortgagee’s rights are limited to the sale proceeds and do not override the estate vested in a bona fide priv