Neville Fernando v. Chandrani Fernando (aka. Fernando v. Fernando) – sllr 2007 volume 1 page 159

In Neville Fernando v. Chandrani Fernando, the court addressed the issue of whether the plaintiff’s claim of constructive malicious desertion against the defendant was substantiated by evidence. It was held that the plaintiff failed to establish, by credible and convincing proof, that the defendant’s conduct compelled his departure from the matrimonial home and thus, failed to meet the legal threshold for constructive malicious desertion. The principle reaffirmed is that matrimonial relief is available only to the innocent spouse, with the burden of proving just cause for desertion lying with the party making the claim. The decision relied on established authority, including Anulawathie, Edwards, Alles, Chellammah, Oberholzer, and Alwis v Piyasena, emphasizing that robust evidentiary proof