Ranatungage Sisira Kumara Yapal Aara v. The Officer in Charge, Police Station, Godakawela – CA PHC 63/2017-2022

In the case between Ranatungage Sisira Kumara Yapal Aara (petitioner/appellant, claimant) and The Officer in Charge, Police Station, Godakawela (respondent), the court considered whether the orders of the Magistrate’s Court and High Court—confiscating cattle due to insufficient proof of ownership and lack of evidence that the offence occurred without the owner’s knowledge—should be set aside in revision. It was held that the application for revision must be dismissed, maintaining that the statutory burden under Section 3AA(3) of the Animal’s Act No. 29 of 1957 was not discharged by the claimant. The decision reinforced the principle that the onus is on the claimant to prove both ownership and absence of knowledge or connivance regarding the offence. This outcome underscores the strict appl