Samaraweera Arachchige Suresh Kumara vs The Hon. Attorney General – 262/2013-2017

In the case between Samaraweera Arachchige Suresh Kumara (Accused-Appellant) and The Hon. Attorney General (Complainant-Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether the sentence of death imposed for possession of 2.4 grams of heroin under section 54A(c) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (as amended) should be reduced or modified on appeal. It was determined that the sentence should not be interfered with and both the conviction and the death sentence were affirmed. The principle reaffirmed is that a more lenient sentence may be considered only for first-time offenders, and the presence of prior convictions and the quantity possessed exclude mitigation. This outcome relied on relevant precedent, including Periyambalam vs Queen [74 NLR 515], underscoring that alloc