Uyanwattalage Piyarathne and Uyanwattalage Jayarathne vs Rajapakse Mudiyanselage Somapala Rajapaksha et al. – SC APPEAL 102/2011-2011

In the case between Uyanwattalage Piyarathne, Uyanwattalage Jayarathne (and related parties) as Plaintiff-Appellants and Rajapakse Mudiyanselage Somapala Rajapaksha, Malini Somalatha Wakkumbura, and Lalani Nirmala Wakkumbura (among others) as Defendants-Respondents, the court addressed whether a conditional transfer deed (Deed P8) constituted a bona fide transfer or functioned as a mortgage, the sufficiency of paper title against claims of adverse or prescriptive possession, and entitlement to partition shares. It was held that the Plaintiff-Appellants’ title, established by a series of deeds (P1–P9), was sufficient and that the 3rd Defendant-Appellant failed to prove prescriptive title. The court reaffirmed that mere possession by a co-owner fails to establish adverse possession under the