Hudson Samarasinghe vs Thilaka Wadasinghe Liyanarathnage – S.C. Appeal No. 22/2020-2025

In the matter of Thilaka Wadasinghe Liyanarathnage and Hudson Samarasinghe, the court addressed the validity of a marriage for maintenance purposes and the conditions for invoking revisionary jurisdiction. The court held that a marriage remains valid until declared null by a competent Family Court, irrespective of potential void ab initio claims, and that revisionary jurisdiction requires exceptional circumstances. This decision reaffirmed the principle that a marriage certificate establishes a valid union for the purposes of the Maintenance Act until a formal nullity declaration is made by a Family Court. This ruling relied on the Judicature Act and precedents such as *Seneviratne v Premalatha* and *Navaratnam v Navaratnam*, emphasizing that the Magistrate’s Court lacks the jurisdiction t