K. M. S. DISSANAYAKE, J.

This is an appeal filed before this Court by the Respondent-Petitioner-Appellant (hereinafter called and referred to as ‘the Appellant’) against the order of the learned High Court Judge of the Sabaragamuwa Province holden at Embilipitiya dated 03.12.2019 made in revision application bearing No. HC RA 01/2017.

The facts relevant to the instant appeal as can be gathered from the petition of appeal, may be briefly, set out as follows;

The Applicant-Respondent-Respondent (hereinafter called and referred to as ‘the Respondent’) had made an application to the Magistrate Court of Embilipitiya in case bearing No. 41884/17 under and in terms of the provisions of Section 5 of the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 07 of 1979 (as amended) (hereinafter called and referred to as ‘the Act’) for the eviction of the Appellant from a State Land as morefully described in the schedule to the application (hereinafter called and referred to as the ‘State Land’). The Appellant who appeared before the Magistrate Court of Embilipitiya in pursuant to the summons issued on him by Court to appear and show cause against the application made to Court by the Respondent under Section 5 of the Act for his eviction from the State Land, had raised a preliminary objection as to the maintainability of the application on the premise that the land from which his eviction had been sought by the Respondent, is neither vested in, nor owned by, nor under the control of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority and therefore, under and in terms of section 18 of the Act to be read with section 22 of the Mahaweli Authority Act, the Respondent has no legal authority to take steps thereunder to evict him therefrom for; he is not the competent authority within the meaning of the Act and hence the application for ejectment ought to be dismissed in-limine. Without prejudice to the preliminary objection so raised by him, the Appellant had taken up a further position that in view of the pedigree pleaded in his showing cause, he had become the lawful owner of the land from which his eviction had been sought by the Respondent, and therefore, the land in question is not a State Land but, a private land and hence, the Appellant is not liable to be ejected from the land belonging to him and therefore, it should be dismissed in-limine.

However, the learned Additional Magistrate of Embilipitiya in his order dated 15.03.2017 had having rejected the preliminary objection so raised by the Appellant as to the maintainability of the application together with the entirety of the Appellant’s showing cause, proceeded to grant the application directing eviction of the Appellant from the State Land by inter-alia, holding that the Appellant had shown no valid cause to the application for ejectment made to it by the Respondent under section 5 of the Act.

Being aggrieved by the said order of the learned Additional Magistrate of Embilipitiya dated 15.03.2017, the Appellant had invoked the extra-ordinary revisionary jurisdiction of the High Court of the Sabaragamuwa Province holden at Embilipitiya seeking to revise and set aside it. The learned High Court Judge of the Sabaragamuwa Province holden at Embilipitiya had by the order dated 03.12.2019, dismissed the application in revision by holding that the order sought to be revised is not contrary to law. Hence, the instant appeal arises therefrom.

It clearly, appears upon a careful scrutiny of his showing cause, that the position so taken up by the Appellant in the Magistrate Court of Embilipitiya is mainly, two-fold, namely;

1) Land is not a State Land within the meaning of the Act but, a private land belonging to him in terms of the pedigree pleaded in his showing cause;

2) The Respondent is not the competent authority within the meaning of section 18 of the Act to be read with section 22 of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority Act.

Let me now, deal with them separately.

1) Land is not a State Land within the meaning of the Act but, a