Samarasighe vs. Chairman, Debt Conciliation Board and Others – sllr 2021 volume 3 page 539

In Samarasinghe v. Chairman, Debt Conciliation Board and Others, the court considered whether the Debt Conciliation Board unlawfully rejected Samarasinghe’s application for relief under the Debt Conciliation Ordinance by failing to properly evaluate the evidence of possession. The matter concerned the significance of continued possession by the transferor when possession was not handed over to the creditor, and whether writ jurisdiction could be invoked without first exhausting statutory remedies. The holding established that the Board had erred by not applying the statutory tests relating to possession under sections 19A(1A) and 21A, and by relying on extraneous matters. The court quashed the Board’s order and directed a rehearing, confirming that writ jurisdiction was properly exercised