Hon. Attorney General vs Muttettuwage Manjula Prasanna Kumara Perera – CA CPA/163/22-2023

In Attorney General v. Muttettuwage Manjula Prasanna Kumara Perera, the court addressed whether the High Court’s discharge of the accused—resulting from failure to serve summons on a prosecution witness—was lawful and procedurally sound. It was held that such discharge lacked statutory support and constituted a misapplication of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act and relevant precedents. The revision application was allowed, reaffirming that accused discharge at the outset without proper statutory foundation cannot be sustained. Reliance was placed on Article 138 of the Constitution, pertinent sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, and case law including Attorney General Vs. Sumathipala, Attorney General Vs. Gunawardena, and Attorney General Vs. Baranage. The impact of this decisi