SUMANAWATHIE

Vs.

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND OTHERS

COURT OF APPEAL
DE SILVA, J.
FERNANDO, J.
CA/994/2000(F)
DC MONARAGALA 1641/L
APRIL 30, 2019

Rei vindicatio action-Prescriptive title-Requirement of dispossession-State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act, No. 7 of 1979, sections 12, 13-State reservation-State Lands Ordinance, section 52-Prescription Ordinance, sections 3, 4-Possessory action

The plaintiff filed this action in the District Court against the State naming inter alia the Attorney General and the Divisional Secretary as defendants seeking a declaration of title to the land in suit on the basis that he had acquired prescriptive title by having been in possession of the land for over 35 years, ejectment of the defendants therefrom and damages. The State had successfully filed an action against the plaintiff in the Magistrate's Court under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act, No. 7 of 1979, to evict the plaintiff from the land. The defendant denied that the plaintiff had acquired prescriptive title to the land. After trial, the District Court dismissed the plaintiff's action, and the plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Held:

1. Wh