Hiran Gunasekera v. Acquiring Officer And Another – sllr 2009 volume 1 page 203

In the case between Hiran Gunasekera (appellant) and the Acquiring Officer and Another (respondents), the court addressed whether the appeal petition was filed within the statutory time limit under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, given conflicting dates on the petition and the rubber-stamped record. It was held that the unauthenticated rubber-stamp date does not conclusively determine the filing date, and any doubt regarding timeliness should not preclude the appellant’s statutory right of appeal. This holding reaffirmed the legal principle that procedural technicalities must yield to substantial rights under liberal statutory interpretation. The decision referenced Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act and relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Code, emphasizing that the actu