Bogayagama Chandrasenage Suren Perera vs. The Attorney General – CA HCC/180/2020-2023

In the case between Bogayagama Chandrasenage Suren Perera (Appellant/Accused-Appellant) and the Attorney General, the court examined whether the appellant’s conviction was improperly based on a defective application of penal sections, specifically whether the indictment should have proceeded under section 5(2) of the Offences Against Public Property Act (cheating) instead of section 5(1). The appeal further called into question the sufficiency of dock identification and misapplication of legal principles relating to criminal breach of trust versus cheating. The findings established that material irregularities and evidentiary deficiencies rendered the conviction unsafe. Accordingly, it was held that the conviction and sentence must be set aside and the appellant acquitted, with no retrial