Rajamanthri Gedera Somalatha vs Wajira Kanthi Rathnasinghe – SC APPEAL 33/2013-2019

In the case between Rajamanthri Gedera Somalatha (Plaintiff-Appellant) and Wajira Kanthi Rathnasinghe (Defendant-Respondent), the court addressed the sufficiency of proof of paper title by the Plaintiff-Appellant to the disputed land, the proper application of the principles of adverse possession under the Prescription Ordinance, and the correctness of the High Court’s reversal of the District Court judgment. It was held that the Plaintiff-Appellant had discharged the burden of proving clear title to the property, and that the High Court erred in reversing the District Court’s decision. The decision reaffirmed that, in a vindicatory action, the plaintiff must first establish title, after which the burden shifts to the defendant to prove prescriptive possession, in alignment with authoritat