K.M. Jagath Wasantha Konara vs Hon. Attorney-General – CA WRIT NO. 39/2014-2014

In the case between K.M. Jagath Wasantha Konara and the Hon. Attorney-General, D.R.L. Ranaweera (Director, CID), and Watte Gedera Yasawathie Menike, the court addressed the issue of whether the Attorney General’s decision to discharge the 3rd respondent from criminal proceedings and not to prosecute should be quashed, and whether the authorities should be compelled to resume investigation into alleged cheating in a gem-related matter. It was held that the Attorney General’s prosecutorial discretion, exercised after full consideration of the CID’s investigation and final report, was properly applied and not subject to interference by writ. The principle reaffirmed is that prosecutorial discretion, unless exercised in bad faith or ultra vires, is not amenable to judicial review by way of cer