Samayawardhena, J.

The plaintiff filed this action in the District Court of Matara seeking to partition the land known as Warakagahaowitawatta (වරකගහඕවිටවත්ත), approximately 1 acre in extent as morefully described in the plaint, among the plaintiff (½ share) and the 1st-3rd defendants (½ share). At the preliminary survey, the 4th defendant presented himself as a new claimant. The preliminary plan comprises Lot 1 and Lot 2. The 4th defendant sought to exclude Lot 2 on the basis that Lot 2 formed part of a different land known as Walewatta (වලේවත්ත). He did not claim any rights to Lot 1.

At the trial, the plaintiff raised no issues on the pedigree. The only contest raised at the trial was the identification of the corpus. The contest was between the plaintiff and the 4th defendant. The 1st-3rd defendants did not participate in the trial, nor did they establish their title, if any. It appears that they are not interested in the land at all but the plaintiff made them parties in order to file a partition action. Such an approach undermines the objective of a partition action. A partition action is brought to put an end to the inconvenience of common ownership.

The plaintiff’s pedigree is