Negombo Lellama now in Church’s grip

• Court order issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Archbishop of Colombo

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda  

The Negombo District Court had issued Interim Orders for  the appointment of a ‘Receiver’ to take over the management and  administration of the premises known as the Negombo Fisheries Market,  commonly referred to as “Lellama.”  

Negombo District Judge Lalith Kannangara further ordered  that the said ‘Receiver’ be handed over all related Accounts and Cash  balances pertaining to the “Lellama” with immediate effect. The Court  made this order pursuant to an action filed by the Archbishop of Colombo  against Aruna Roshantha Fernando, J. Edison Fernando, and A.J.  Nishantha Fernando, holding respectively the positions of President,  Secretary, and Treasurer of the “Pitipana Meesame Eksath Dheewara  Samithiya”.  

The Archbishop of Colombo initiated a legal action before  the District Court of Negombo, citing that the premises commonly  referred to as the “Lellama” had been gifted to the “Pitipana Meesame  Eksath Dheewara Samithiya” by a Deed of Gift in 1963 by the then  Archbishop of Colombo, subject to certain conditions. It was alleged  that the defendants purportedly violated these conditions by renting and  leasing out the shops within the said premises to third parties without  the prior approval of the Archbishop of Colombo. The Archbishop  specifically averred that as the defendants were in serious breach of  the conditions of the said Deed of Gift, and failed to utilize a portion of  the revenue generated from the premises to the ‘Pitipana Church’ for the  purposes and the welfare of the Pitipana Parish.  

The Archbishop’s claim emphasized that as the defendants  acted in serious breaches of the conditions of the Deed of Gift as  aforesaid, the then Archbishop took steps to cancel the said Deed of  Gift in 2007. However, the defendants and their representatives  continued to unlawfully occupy the premises by arbitrarily altering the  name of their Fisheries Society. Consequently, the Archbishop of Colombo  petitioned the Court for a declaration of title over the premises known  as “Lellama” in his favour and sought an order for the eviction of the  defendants and their representatives from the premises, to obtain the  delivery of possession of the said premises back to the Archbishop of  Colombo.  

Furthermore, the Archbishop of Colombo prayed for interim  relief from the court, including the appointment of a ‘Receiver’ to take  over the management and administration of the premises, with exclusive  authority over associated accounts and cash assets of the ‘Lellama’.  Following a comprehensive inquiry conducted before several previous  District Court Judges with regard to the Application for Interim Relief,  in which Rev. Fr. Ciswan de Croos, M. Vincent German, W.A. Steven, and  W.J. Martin Fernando gave evidence on behalf of the Plaintiff, the  Archbishop of Colombo. The 1st Defendant, W. Ganis Fernando, along with  L.C. Roshan and A.A. Peter Silva gave evidence on behalf of the  Defendants. Subsequently, upon the conclusion of the said extensive  inquiry, the District Judge of Negombo issued the Interim Orders in  favour of the Archbishop of Colombo.  

Senior Counsel Varuna Senadhira with Counsel Rukshantha de  Almeida instructed by Dammika Silva, Attorney-at-Law, appeared on behalf  of the Archbishop of Colombo.