Munasighe Leela Nanda Silva vs. T.G. Chandrawathie Wijesekera and others – APPLICATION NO.449/2014-2016

In the dispute between the 17th Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner (among others) and the Plaintiff-Respondent along with other co-respondents, the court considered whether non-compliance with Rule 28(5) of the Supreme Court Rules, 1990—specifically, the failure to properly name the 1st Defendant as a respondent in an appeal—fatally affected the maintainability of the petition for leave to appeal against a partition judgment. It was determined that the omission constituted a mandatory procedural defect, rendering the appeal incurable despite a subsequent oral attempt to amend the caption after the stipulated period. This determination relied on a strict interpretation of procedural compliance and relevant case law, confirming the principle that all necessary parties must be properly joined and