W. D. Marks Wanigasekera v. Hon. Attorney General, Police OIC, Thalangama Police, Commissioner General of Prison – CA PHC/201/15-2015

In the case between W. D. Marks Wanigasekera (Appellant) and the OIC, Thalangama Police, the Hon. Attorney General, and Commissioner General of Prisons (Respondents), the court addressed whether sentences imposed in four distinct criminal matters against the appellant could be ordered to run concurrently or combined, and whether the Court of Appeal possessed discretion to grant such relief under the circumstances presented. It was held that, pursuant to Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Code, sentences in unrelated cases—those not arising from the same transaction—must run consecutively. The court reaffirmed the rule that appellate discretion to alter or suspend sentences is strictly limited, and that leniency is not warranted absent exceptional circumstances such as a single transacti