Kandasamy Mohan v. The Hon. Attorney General – CA 130/2007-2007

In the case between Kandasamy Mohan (Accused-Appellant) and The Hon. Attorney General (Complainant-Respondent), the court addressed whether the Appellant, convicted of murder under Section 296 of the Penal Code by the High Court of Batticaloa, was entitled to a lesser culpability due to voluntary intoxication at the time of the offence. It was held that the evidence did not satisfactorily establish that the Appellant’s intoxication was such as to negate the ability to form the requisite intent for murder. The principle was reaffirmed that the burden rests on the accused to demonstrate, on a balance of probabilities, an incapacity to form intent due to intoxication. Established case law, including Rathnayake v. The Queen and King v. Velauden, and statutory provisions concerning intoxication