Hattuwan Pedige Sugath Karunaratne Vs. The Hon. Attorney General – CA 243/2013-2017

In the case between the Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo (on behalf of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) and Hattuwan Pedige Sugath Karunaratne, the court addressed the issue of whether a conviction based on a guilty plea, where the indictment referenced general periods rather than specific dates for charges of kidnapping and rape, denied the accused a fair trial or amounted to a defective conviction. The court held that the indictment, though devoid of specific dates, was not fatally flawed given the circumstances of repeated offences, and that the accused was not misled or prejudiced as to the charges. The principle reaffirmed is that so long as the indictment sufficiently informs the accused of the nature of the offences, and procedural safegua