The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka recently ended a lengthy lawsuit delivering the final decree after 52 years.
The case was resolved in favour of the plaintiff.
The plaintiff filed the case in the Kurunegala District Court against ousting him from his property, a 90-perch land called ‘Damunugahamulawatta’ in 1972. On 29th March, 1976, the District Court decided that the action of the defendant was illegal.
The defendants appealed against the judgement in the Court of Appeal claiming that the District Judge had not considered several vital documents they had filed and the decree was erroneous.
On 25 October 1984, the Court of Appeal nullified the decree of the Kurunegala District Court and ordered a re-hearing.
After a fresh hearing, the Kurunegala District Court delivered the decree in favour of the plaintiff on 28 April 1997.
By that time, the defendant had passed away and the substituted defendant appealed to the Court of Appeal.
That judgement was nullified by the Court of Appeal on 02 December 2011 and the plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court on 06 May 2013.
After a 10-year hearing, the final decree was delivered by a three-member bench of Supreme Court Judges comprised of S. Thurairajah, A.H.M.D. Nawaz and Achala Wengappuli.
