Balasuriya and Another vs. Ramanayake and Others – sllr 2021 volume 1 page 186

In the case between Sujatha Tillakaratne (1st Plaintiff-Respondent-Appellant) and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Defendant-Appellant-Respondents concerning the division of hereditary property, the Supreme Court examined the application of the presumption under Section 28(1) of the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act, 1952. The Court determined that where a Kandyan marriage is registered under the Marriage Registration Ordinance without specific mention of its type (diga or binna), the presumption arises that the marriage is diga, resulting in forfeiture of the daughter’s right to inherit from her paternal estate. The findings reaffirmed that this statutory presumption holds absent satisfactory evidence to the contrary. The decision relied on established statutory interpretation and the evidentiary pri