Galpoththe Gedara Gunaratne vs Hon. Attorney General – CA 182/2019-2024

In the case between Galpoththe Gedara Gunaratne (and six others) and the Hon. Attorney General, the issue concerned whether procedural irregularities occurred in applying section 48 of the Judicature Act No. 2 of 1978 during the admission of evidence, and the reliability of witness identification. The appellants, indicted under penal provisions for participation in a fatal attack, contended that the trial judge improperly exercised statutory discretion and that their identification was unreliable. The findings upheld the trial judge’s discretion under the statute and accepted eyewitness identifications as credible and sufficient in law to prove involvement in unlawful assembly leading to the deceased’s death. The judgment reaffirms the principle that the lawful exercise of judicial discret