R.A. Piyal Jayaweera vs The Hon. Attorney – General – CA NO. 75/2013-2013

In the case of R.A. Piyal Jayaweera v. Hon. Attorney-General, the Court addressed whether the appeal against sentence should proceed or be withdrawn, and if the sentence could be backdated to reflect time already spent on remand. It was determined that, with the appellant withdrawing the appeal and requesting the sentence be backdated, the earlier period of remand warranted consideration. The objections raised by the Additional Solicitor General, relating to a previous similar conviction and activation of a suspended sentence, were taken into account. The principle reaffirmed is that judicial discretion permits backdating a sentence to ensure fairness where the accused has already experienced deprivation of liberty. The decision relied upon procedural fairness and established the acceptabi