Appuhamy and Another v. Menike and Others – sllr 2000 volume 2 page 040

In the case between the 1st to 7th plaintiff-respondents (beneficiaries of a quarter share in the land originally owned by Somawathi, including R.M. Somadasa and others) and the 1st to 4th defendant-appellants (with particular reference to the 1st and 2nd defendants, claimed as tenant-cultivators and/or usufructuary mortgagees), the court addressed the issue of whether the defendant-appellants’ rights as tenant-cultivators survived the subsequent acquisition of a usufructuary mortgage over the same share of land. It was held that the act of taking an assignment of the usufructuary mortgage by the defendant-appellants resulted in the extinguishment of any purported tenancy rights, either by legal surrender or merger, due to the mutual incompatibility and exclusive character of the respectiv