Somawathi De Zoysa Alias Kumarasinghe v. V.Jayasena Fernando – sllr 2005 volume 1 page 010

In the case between the plaintiff, who purchased the northern and southern portions of land and sought a declaration of title, and the defendant, who claimed that the northern portion was purchased by her former husband in trust for her, the court addressed whether the plaintiff was a bona fide purchaser without notice of any trust and clarified the allocation of the burden of proof under Sections 65 and 66 of the Trust Ordinance. It was held that the burden of proof under Section 66(1) rests with the transferee rather than the alleged beneficiary and that the evidence did not support the defendant’s assertion of a trust. The findings reaffirmed the principle that a person claiming the existence of a trust must establish circumstances depriving a purchaser of bona fide status, thereby safe