Weerasinghe Arachchige Sarath Weerasinghe v. H.D. Sarath Premaratne – SC APPEAL 193/2014-2023

In the case between Weerasinghe Arachchige Sarath (plaintiff) and H.D. Sarath Premaratne (defendant), the court addressed the issue of entitlement to ownership, possession, and ejectment concerning Lot B in Plan No. 268, as well as the validity of a prescriptive title claim absent a specific prayer for ejectment. It was held that the defendant’s assertion of prescriptive rights could not prevail where the plaintiff’s title to Lot B was established and the prolonged occupation was insufficient due to familial circumstances. The principle reaffirmed was that prescriptive claims require clear evidence of adverse possession and cannot override proven legal title, particularly where leave and licence had initially been conceded and the claimed adverse possession fell short of the statutory peri