Wendersonge Siripala Vs The Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC 145/2020-2022

In The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Attorney General) v. Wendersonge Siripala, the court addressed whether reliance on a deceased eyewitness’s evidence (admitted under Section 33 of the Evidence Ordinance) deprived the appellant of a fair trial, and whether the exceptions under Chapter 4 and Section 294 of the Penal Code were properly considered in convicting the appellant of murder. Upon review, it was held that the evidence was legally admissible and probative. However, the findings established that the fatal injury was inflicted during a sudden fight without premeditation, justifying mitigation under Exception 4 to Section 294. The murder conviction and death sentence were set aside and replaced with a conviction for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, with a sente