Henry David Damith Jayawardana v. Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/0431/2019-2022

In the case between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Attorney General) and Henry David Damith Jayawardana alias Hendry David Damith Jayawardana, the court addressed the propriety of the indictment’s framing and sufficiency of identity evidence in charges of kidnapping and rape of a minor. It was determined that specifying a time period, rather than a specific date, for the alleged offence did not deprive the accused of fair notice or a fair trial, and that the child victim’s testimony provided reliable proof of identity despite the absence of an identification parade. Affirming established principles that procedural particulars in indictments must serve fairness without rigid technicality, and that credibility of child witnesses may suffice for proof, the decision relied on