N.P.A.P.Aura saman Kumara vs The Hon. Attorney General et al. – CA MC/RV/14/2015-2015

In the case between N.P.A.P. Aura Saman Kumara (Petitioner) and the Hon. Attorney General, Commissioner General of Prisons, Superintendent of Mahara Prison, and the Minister of Justice (Respondents), the court addressed the legality and reasonableness of imposing a sentence of 116 months’ imprisonment for 116 months of maintenance arrears under the Maintenance Act No. 37 of 1999. The primary holding affirmed that the sentence attributed to each month of default was lawful, emphasizing that the Maintenance Act expressly permits a commensurate term of imprisonment per month of default. The court’s analysis relied on section 5 of the Maintenance Act, section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and established precedent, with particular attention to Siriwardane v. D. Emalin 59 NLR 263. It was u