Arachchilage Gedara Anulawathi vs Wadiyaralalage Weerasinghe Bandara – SC APPEAL NO. 192/2011-2012

In the case between Wadiyaralalage Weerasinghe Bandara (“Araliya Wilana”) (Plaintiff/Respondent) and Arachchilage Gedara Anulawathi (Defendant/Appellant), the court addressed whether the Notice of Appeal and Petition of Appeal had been properly addressed in compliance with Sections 754 (3) and 754 (4) of the Civil Procedure Code. The dispute centered on the Civil Appellate High Court’s dismissal of the appeal due to the notice and petition being addressed to the Court of Appeal instead of the lower court, despite a long-standing practice to the contrary. It was determined that historical judicial practices of addressing such documents, supported by prior decisions such as Boyagoda v Mendis and Babapulle v Domingo, should be recognized. The appeal was allowed, the lower court’s judgment was