Ranawake Arachchige Nishantha Alwis Vs. The Hon. Attorney General – CA 30/2007-2007

In the case between The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Ranawake Arachchige Nishantha Alwis, the court addressed the issue of whether an accused appellant, convicted of murder and sentenced to death, could withdraw the appeal under section 359 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979, and whether the period of custody could be credited towards the sentence of death under section 323(5) of the same Act. The court held that withdrawal of the appeal was permissible at the court’s discretion, but disallowed the application to backdate the death sentence. It was established that section 323(5) applies exclusively to terms of imprisonment and not to sentences of death. This decision reaffirmed the principle that statutory credit for time served in custody under section