A.A.Ajith Kumara v. Hon Attorney General – CA HC/159/2015-2015

In the case between A.A. Ajith Kumara (petitioner) and the Hon. Attorney General (respondent), the court considered an appeal challenging the sentence, rather than the conviction, in relation to H.C. Badulla No. 11/2013. The petitioner highlighted procedural shortcomings at the original trial—specifically, uncertainty regarding the date of the offence and claims of a family dispute—but instructed counsel to withdraw any challenge to the conviction and sought mitigation of the sentence. After consideration of the submissions, the conviction was affirmed. The sentence of rigorous imprisonment was reduced from 10 years to 7 years, with other penalties unchanged and the sentence to run from the original conviction date. The principle reaffirmed was that, although evidentiary shortcomings may e