Satkunam and Others vs. Ambikaiammaha and Others – sllr 2012 volume 2 page 278

The case between Satkunam and Others (plaintiff-respondents, devotees of the temple) and Ambikaiammaha and Others (defendant-petitioners, hereditary trustees of the temple) addressed the issue of whether plaintiffs, as devotees, were entitled to obtain an injunction to restrain the temple trustees from interfering with the conduct of annual temple festivals, in the absence of compliance with Section 102(3) of the Trust Ordinance. The court held that the mandatory statutory prerequisite—obtaining a certificate from the Government Agent confirming an inquiry as stipulated by Section 102(3)—was not fulfilled by the plaintiffs, invalidating the jurisdiction of the District Court to grant the interim injunction. This principle reaffirmed the necessity for strict compliance with procedural requi