THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL v. PERERA

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL v. PERERA.

D. C., Kurunegala, 1,305.

 

Owner of land and planter-Compensation from owner of land for improvements made on it at the request of, and with moneys belonging to, a third party-Claim of owner for damages.

A, who improves land belonging to B at the request of, and with moneys belonging to, C upon a contract between A and C, is not entitled to compensation from B for such improvements; nor can B claim damages from A for felling timber, &c., on the land improved, as such improvements have rendered his land more valuable than it was, and as, in effecting such improvements, he dealt with the land as agent of C.

THE Attorney-General, on behalf of the Crown, sued the defend-ant to recover possession of a Crown land and Rs. 20,000 as damages. The defendant denied the right of the Crown and claimed the land for himself; and in the alternative he averred that, as he had cleared and planted and improved the land and held possession of it for over ten years, he was entitled under Ordinance No. 12 of 1840 to be in possession until he was given compensation for the improvements effected.

The evidence for the

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