Senanayake v. Peter De Silva – sllr 1986 volume 2 page 405

In SENANAYAKE v. PETER DE SILVA, the court considered whether a vindicatory suit for possession could be maintained by the owner against a former tenant whose right of occupation had ceased following lease termination. It was held that upon severance of the landlord–tenant relationship, an owner may seek recovery of possession based on title (rei vindicatio), and is not required to pursue only an ejectment action for tenancy nor to reprove termination of contractual rights once ownership is established. The decision reaffirmed the principle that a terminated tenancy extinguishes the defendant’s right to possess, enabling the owner to proceed solely on the basis of ownership. Precedents such as Attorney-General v. Herath, Graham v. Ridley, and Boshoff v. Union Government were relied upon, e