Ilandari Pedige Sumith Jayaweera v. The Hon. Attorney General et al. – CA/MC/RE APPLICATION NO. 05/2017-2018

In the case between Ilandari Pedige Sumith Jayaweera (petitioner) and the Hon. Attorney General and others (respondents), the court addressed the legality of multiple convictions and sentencing practices by the Magistrate’s Court of Kaduwela, specifically concerning convictions for theft and alternative offenses (retention and disposal of stolen property). It was held that convictions and sentences imposed concurrently for alternative counts in the same trial are legally impermissible, reaffirming the principle against convicting an accused for mutually exclusive offenses arising from the same facts. The decision considered admissions by the State and relevant case law, emphasizing that where alternative charges exist, conviction must be confined to one, and procedural fairness under the C