Attorney General v. Rajapakselage Sunil Shantha Jayasuriya – CA PHC/APN 135/16-2021

In The Attorney General v. Rajapakselage Sunil Shantha Jayasuriya, the Court addressed the jurisdictional issue of whether the Court of Appeal was functus officio regarding the revision application CA/PHC/APN 135/16 following a prior ex parte order. The matter centered on the maintainability of a re-listed revision application after a significant delay in raising preliminary objections by the complainant-petitioner. The underlying dispute involved a revision application filed by the Attorney General against a High Court sentence deemed manifestly illegal and the subsequent non-service of notice to the accused-respondent, leading to an ex parte enhancement of the sentence. Upon application for re-listing by the accused-respondent, issues relating to natural justice—specifically the right to