The Attorney General vs. Weerasinghe Pathirage Priyantha Gunasekara et al – CA PHC APN 135/2017-2022

In The Attorney General v. Weerasinghe Pathirage Priyantha Gunasekara and Others, the court addressed whether the High Court Judge erred in law by accepting a plea of guilt for a lesser offence from the accused-respondents without the Attorney General’s sanction as required by Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). The court held that the acceptance of such a plea, without Attorney General’s explicit consent during trial, while an irregularity, did not constitute a miscarriage of justice or cause prejudice to any party. The statutory framework was construed as requiring sanction at the initiation of trial rather than after evidence had been led. The judgment reaffirmed that curable procedural irregularities, in the absence of demonstrable prejudice, do not justify revision of co