Marriage certificate sufficient proof of marriage - Appeal Court?

The Court of Appeal has held that where a Marriage Certificate is produced for the purpose of establishing a marital status in an administrative matter, such certificate constitutes prima facie proof of the existence of the marriage, and accordingly, no administrative authority or officer has the power to determine the validity or invalidity of such marriage in the absence of a decree or declaration issued by a competent court. 
The ruling was delivered by the Court of Appeal Bench comprising Justice Dhammika Ganepola and Justice Adithya Patabendige while determining a writ application filed before the Court.  The Court observed that the determination of the validity, nullity or dissolution of a marriage falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of a competent court, namely the Family Court (District Court) and therefore, in the absence of a judicial declaration to the contrary, a Marriage Certificate is sufficient at the initial stage to establish a person’s marital status. 

This writ application was filed by a petitioner, Ashila Ranasinghe of Galenbindunuwewa, Anuradhapura, naming the Land Commissioner General, the Inter Provincial Land Commissioner of Anuradhapura and the Divisional Secretary of Galenbindunuwewa as Respondents.  
The case arose after the petitioner sought to obtain long-term lease rights over two State lands which had earlier been possessed and maintained by his father and stepmother.  
According to the facts presented before Court, the petitioner’s father had first married in 1973 and later entered into a second marriage in 1984. The second wife had obtained approval for long-term State land leases. After her death, the petitioner’s father had also been granted approval relating to the same lands. Following the petitioner’s father’s death, the petitioner continued occupying and maintaining the lands and later applied to obtain the lease rights.  
However, the authorities later refused to proceed with the lease process after raising questions about whether the petitioner’s father had legally divorced his first wife before entering into the second marriage. Since there was no proof of divorce available to the Petitioner as his mother too is no more, the authorities took the position that the second marriage may not have been legally valid and decided to cancel earlier approvals given to the Petitioner’s father.  
The Court of Appeal held that the respondent authorities had acted outside their legal powers by attempting to determine the validity of a marriage. 
Attorney at Law Shehan Chamika Silva appeared for the Petitioner with Radhya Herath, Ama S. Jayaweera and Indika Hettiarachchi Law Associates.