Bandula Gunaratne vs The Attorney-General – CA APPEAL NO. 23/11-2013

In the case between Bandula Gunaratne and the Attorney-General, the court addressed whether the accused-appellant was rightly convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 297 of the Penal Code, considering grave and sudden provocation and the viability of the private defence claim. It was held that the conviction and sentence were correctly imposed, reaffirming the principle that the defence of private defence must be presented credibly and at the earliest opportunity to create reasonable doubt. The decision relied on assessment of eyewitness evidence, the accused-appellant’s inconsistent statements, and legal authority regarding unchallenged substantive testimony, emphasizing that mere afterthoughts or delayed assertions without evidentiary support cannot undermine