Kariawasam v. Priyadharshani – SLR – sllr 2004 volume 1 page 189

In KARIAWASAM v. PRIYADHARSHANI, the court considered whether a prior Court of Appeal judgment, which denied entitlement to shares based on an omission, should be set aside as per incuriam. The central question was whether the inherent powers of the court allowed correction or vacating of its earlier pronouncement to prevent injustice. It was determined that the initial appellate decision failed to consider material evidence contained on the second page of the final decree, which indicated allocation of shares. The principle reaffirmed is that judicial oversight amounting to per incuriam permits rectification under the court’s inherent jurisdiction, especially where failure to do so would result in injustice. The decision relied upon precedents addressing the correction of clerical mistake