Podinona v. Premadasa – sllr 1996 volume 2 page 191

In Podinona (Appellant) v. Premadasa (Respondent), the court examined whether an application for “special leave” under section 48(4) of the Partition Law could be filed before the return of the surveyor as required under section 32, and clarified the temporal requirements for such applications. The sequence of events included the 10th Defendant’s failure to appear, issuance of an interlocutory decree, and subsequent dismissal of the appellant’s application as premature by the District Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal. It was held that section 48(4) establishes a deadline—allowing the application at any time, but no later than thirty days following the surveyor’s return—rather than imposing the return as a precondition to making the application. The previous interpretation by the low