Yogarajah Rajarathan v. Hon. Attorney General – CA 151/2011-2014

In the case between Yogarajah Rajarathan (Accused-Appellant) and the Hon. Attorney General (Complainant-Respondent), the court addressed whether the conviction for murder and imposition of the death penalty upon the 14-year-old accused, Yogarajah Rajarathan, was legally justified. The court held that the evidence did not establish premeditation or the intention requisite for murder but demonstrated a loss of self-control due to sudden and grave provocation resulting from ongoing family disputes, thus falling under Exception 1 to Section 294 of the Penal Code. The conviction for murder was set aside and substituted with a conviction for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, with a sentence of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. The decision reaffirmed the principle that sustained and cumu