Amarasinghe Arachchige Somawathie vs Mabima Vitharanage Sunil Wickremasinghe – SC APPEAL NO: 63/2014-2022

In the case between Amarasinghe Arachchige Somawathie, Muthuthanthrige Irene Fernando (Plaintiffs) and Mabima Vitharanage Sunil Wickremasinghe, D.P. Tillekeratne, Dodampe Gamage Tillekeratne (Defendants), the court addressed the issue of whether, after accepting an amended plaint, it is mandatory to serve summons on the defendant and whether the failure to do so renders subsequent ex parte orders and decrees null and void. It was held that the failure to serve summons on the amended plaint constituted a procedural defect that deprived the defendant of the opportunity to answer, thereby invalidating the ex parte proceedings and decree. The principle reaffirmed is that due service of summons is a jurisdictional precondition to valid ex parte proceedings, anchored in Sections 55, 84, and 93 o