Kalansooriya and Another vs. Priyantha Epa and Others – sllr 2019 volume 1 page 320

In Kalansooriya and Another vs. Priyantha Epa and Others, the court addressed the issue of child custody involving the natural parents and third-party custodians. The central question was whether the act of delivering a child to a third party by the natural parents could permanently transfer custody, overriding natural parental rights. The sequence of events included the withdrawal of an adoption case by the third-party custodians upon objection by the natural parents, a District Court order granting custody to the third-party custodians, and the subsequent reversal of that order by the Civil Appellate High Court. It was held that custody should revert to the natural parents, reaffirming the principle that the welfare of the child and the legal rights of natural parents are paramount. This