Dissanayake vs Bastian – clr volume 1 page 067_2

In Dissanayake v. Bastian and others, involving appellants including Bastian and four co-defendants, the court addressed whether permanent impairment of an eye constitutes “grievous hurt” under section 311 of the Ceylon Penal Code. The findings established that permanent impairment of the eye, without total deprivation of sight, does not fulfill the statutory requirement for grievous hurt, as the eye is not classified as a “member or joint” under clause 5 of section 311 but is covered by clause 2, which mandates complete loss of sight. The conviction against the 5th defendant for grievous hurt was accordingly reduced to an offense under section 314, with the sentence adjusted to align with that imposed upon defendant Bastian. This interpretation reaffirmed the principle that statutory defi