S.D. Thushara Pradeepika Jayasuriya Fernando et al v. Attorney General – CA CASE NO: 291/2009-2009

In the case between S.D. Thushara Pradeepika Jayasuriya Fernando, Brahmanage Ranjith Perera, Sinhala Pedilage Dinesh, Pushpakumara Abeysinghe (Accused-Appellants) and the Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed whether the appeal of the 2nd accused-appellant, Brahmanage Ranjith Perera, should be treated as withdrawn and dismissed, as well as whether the sentence ought to be backdated to the date of conviction in accordance with Section 359 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It was held that, since no official court order had permitted withdrawal of the appeal previously but the sentence had already been served, formal withdrawal was allowed in open court. The sentence was ordered to run from the date of conviction, reaffirming the principle that a sentence may be backdated under ju