Gnanasara Thero vacates the house forcibly occupied in Bambalapitiya

Two Buddhist monks, including Venerable Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, have agreed in court to return a luxury house located in the Bambalapitiya area to its rightful legal heirs and vacate the premises. Accordingly, the Colombo High Court granted permission to withdraw a case filed against them.

This decision was reached when the case was called before Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Thilakarathne on June 01st.

When the case was taken up for hearing, the lawyers representing the defendant monks informed the court that their clients were ready to hand over the ownership of the property to its true heirs and vacate the premises. Following this statement by the defendant party, the aggrieved party also informed the High Court that they had no objection to withdrawing the complaint. Taking into account the agreement of both parties, the judge officially granted permission to withdraw the complaint.

During this court process, the lawyers for the defendant monks further clarified that a female devotee residing in a foreign country had donated this house to Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero. The lawyers also pointed out that the primary objective of the defendant monks was to sell the luxury apartment and use the proceeds to construct a stupa.

However, the aggrieved party had previously stated in their complaint that the ownership of this house had been transferred to them through a legal power of attorney granted by a close relative residing in the United States of America. They had filed charges in court alleging that despite the legal transfer of ownership, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero and others were illegally obstructing them from entering the house.