Juwan Hettige Sriyalatha Silva vs. Meemanage Duneetha Chandrakanthi Silva – SC APPEAL 6/2021-2021

In the case between Juwan Hettige Sriyalatha Silva (Plaintiff/Appellant) and Meemanage Duneetha Chandrakanthi Silva (Defendant/Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether, under the Partition Law, a sale rather than a physical partition was justified for a property of minimal extent in which each party was entitled to a ½ share. It was held that the District Judge correctly ordered the sale of the plaintiff’s ½ share to the defendant occupying the property, as physical partition would be impractical and defeat the purpose of section 26(3) of the Partition Law. The principle reaffirmed is that, where partition is impracticable due to the trivial extent of land, a sale is an appropriate remedy to effectuate the termination of co-ownership. Reliance was placed on sections 26(2) and