Weerasinghe v. Silva – sllr 1994 volume 2 page 248

In WEERASINGHE v. DE SILVA, the court addressed whether correspondence from the plaintiff, particularly letter P6, constituted valid statutory notice under Section 461 of the Civil Procedure Code for a claim of damages arising from alleged malicious prosecution and wrongful confinement by the defendant, an Inspector of Police. It was determined that notice was valid if it contained the essential particulars of the claim, and strict adherence to Form No. 71 was not mandatory. The court confirmed that substantive compliance—specifying the cause of action and the relief sought—fulfilled the statutory requirements, reaffirming the principle that statutory forms are directory, not mandatory, when key information is provided. The holding relied on an analysis of the relevant legislative provisio