Abeypala v. Abeyakirthi – sllr 1981 volume 1 page 086

In Abeyapala v. Abeyakirthi, the court addressed whether the lease agreement identified as “A” constituted the letting of a business or the premises, and determined the legal status of the defendant’s occupation following expiry of the lease. It was held that only the business conducted on the premises was let, not the premises themselves, and the defendant’s occupation was classified as that of a licencee rather than a tenant. The typographical omission of the prayer for ejectment in the amended plaint did not impair the plaintiff’s entitlement to relief. The principle reaffirmed is that a lease of business alone, without conveyance of the premises, does not create tenancy rights in the premises. Reliance was placed on the analysis of the lease document, factual matrix, and prior authorit