H. G. Sujith Priyantha v. Officer-In-Charge, Police Station Poddala – CA PHC NO.157/12-2015

In the case between H. G. Sujith Priyantha (Petitioner-Appellant) and the Officer-In-Charge, Police Station, Poddala along with N. Saman Kumara, L. Ranathunga, and the Hon. Attorney General (Complainant-Respondent-Respondents), the court addressed whether the owner of a vehicle used in a Forest Ordinance offence is entitled to have the vehicle released after confiscation, based on a claim of having taken all possible precautions to prevent its misuse. It was held that mere verbal instructions to the driver did not suffice as evidence of due precaution as required by the proviso to Section 40 of the Forest Ordinance. Further, it was determined that defects in the charge to which the accused had pleaded guilty could not be raised post-conviction at the stage of application for vehicle releas