Lal Wickramasinghe vs Hon. the Attorney General – CA PHC APN 39/2014-2014

In the case between Lal Wickramasinghe (1st Accused – Petitioner) and the Hon. Attorney General (Respondent), along with Kangaramulle Gedara Samarasinghe and Millewage Gunawardhana (2nd and 3rd Accused – Respondents), the court addressed whether the petitioner was entitled to receive, free of charge, copies of all documents listed in the indictment relied upon by the prosecution before trial. It was held that the Registrar of the High Court must provide such documents to the petitioner at least one month prior to the commencement of trial, pursuant to the parties’ agreement and in the absence of objection from the prosecution. This holding set aside the prior High Court order dated 11.02.2014. The principle reaffirmed is that an accused is entitled to receive, without cost, complete access