Manatunga v. Baronchihamy – sllr 1995 volume 1 page 045

In MANATUNGA v. BARONCHIHAMY, the dispute concerned whether the Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services possessed jurisdiction to adjudicate an eviction complaint submitted via an obsolete form to a non-existent Agricultural Tribunal following transitional changes brought by the Agrarian Services Act. The sequence of events included the filing of the complaint by Pattisingho (later substituted by his wife), the use of a superseded form referencing the former Agricultural Tribunal, and the Assistant Commissioner continuing proceedings under transitional provisions. It was determined that such a procedural irregularity—stemming from submission to a defunct body—did not render the proceedings null but was a curable defect amenable to waiver and acquiescence. The appeal was dismissed, the