Haji Omar v. Bodhidasa – sllr 1994 volume 2 page 191

In the case between Haji Omar (plaintiff, with substituted plaintiff-respondents) and Bodhidasa (defendant), the court addressed the issue of whether the amended provisions of section 337 of the Civil Procedure Code, introduced by Amendment Act No. 53 of 1980, barred the execution of an ex parte decree for rent and ejectment due to the passage of over ten years from the date of decree. It was held that the statutory time limitation applied only to the recovery of money under the decree and not to the delivery of possession of immovable property. The principle reaffirmed was that legislative amendments affecting substantive, vested rights are not to be applied retrospectively unless expressly provided. The decision considered section 6(3) of the Interpretation Ordinance and construed the wo