Bothalayage Athula Sumanasekara vs Mananalage Sumathipala and others – SC APPEAL NO. 124/2022-2024

In the case between Bothalayage Athula Sumanasekara (Plaintiff/Appellant) and Mananalage Sumathipala, Dissanayake Ralalage Ajith Munaweera, Ganthota Karagalage Nandawathie (substituting for A. Rapiel Singho, deceased), and Galigamuwa Pradeshiya Sabhawa (Defendants/Respondents), the court addressed the issue of land title identification and alleged unlawful encroachment on a footpath purportedly widened into a roadway by the Defendants. The court held that evidence confirmed long-standing public use and maintenance of the roadway in question and found the Plaintiff had not established entitlement to further relief concerning the disputed boundary. The principle reaffirmed was that the burden remains with a claimant to adequately identify and prove entitlement to land claimed beyond title de