Cornel’s 16-year-long battle against Colombo Hilton ends
A16-year-old case filed by Cornel Perera and Co, who introduced the Colombo Hilton hotel in the early 1980s, against the hotel’s owning company and others, was dismissed by the Colombo District Court on May 26.
The case was filed in March 1998 by Cornel & Co Ltd seeking an injunction to prevent the implementation of a series of Settlement Agreements entered into between parties other than Cornel & Company which it claimed was the majority shareholder of Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd (HDL).
Respondents in the case were Mitsui and Co. Ltd, Taisei Corporation, the Attorney General, Nihal Sri Ameresekere and HDL
According to court records, the District Court (DC) had given an Enjoining Order which was then contested in the Appeal Court which supported the DC ruling. The affected parties then appealed to the Supreme Court.
On 11th November 2011 the entire share holding of the company HDL was vested with the Government of Sri Lanka in terms of the Revival of the Underper- forming Enterprises or Underutilised Assets Act no. 43 of 2011. On 25th November 2013 the appeals pending in the Supreme Court were dismissed on the grounds that Cornel and Co., Ltd was no longer a shareholder of the company and therefore it had no locus standi to proceed any further.
When the case came up in the District Court last month, Senior Counsel for HDL, Romesh de Silva P.C. stated that the case should be dismissed on the following grounds: That the case was filed by Cornel and Company Ltd, the Plaintiff, in its capaci- ty as a share holder, but Cornel & Co Ltd is no longer a shareholder.
hat the basis for requesting the Court to terminate this case is on the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on 5th August 2013 and 25th November 2013. Mr. de Silva said that it is clear that the plaintiff has no right to go ahead with this case and therefore requested the court to terminate proceedings as per the two orders issued by the Supreme Court.
The court then issued judgment dismissing the case.