Gunasinghe Banda v. Navinna and Others – sllr 2000 volume 3 page 207

The case between Gunasinghe Banda (Plaintiff) and Navinna and Others (Defendants) addressed the issue of whether an affidavit based on hearsay evidence satisfies the statutory requirements for election petitions under the Provincial Councils Elections Act and related laws. It was held that affidavits supporting election petitions must be founded strictly on facts within the personal knowledge of the deponent, and that reliance on newspaper interviews or other hearsay sources fails to meet this statutory threshold. The principle reaffirmed is that affidavits containing information derived from sources not subject to direct verification are fundamentally defective and render the petition liable to dismissal. This determination was guided by statutory interpretation of the Provincial Councils